Conditions for issuance of licenses for telecommunications operations in Vietnam as of July 1, 2024

Conditions for issuance of licenses for telecommunications operations in Vietnam as of July 1, 2024 (Internet image) 

On November 24, 2023, the National Assembly passed the Law on Telecommunications 2023.

Conditions for issuance of licenses for telecommunications operations in Vietnam as of July 1, 2024

Article 38 of the Law on Telecommunications 2023 stipulates the conditions for issuance of licenses for telecommunications operations in Vietnam as follows:

* A license for installation of submarine telecommunications cable lines shall be issued to a Vietnamese or foreign organization when the following conditions are met:

- Committing to comply with regulations of Vietnamese laws;

- Committing to fail to cause pollution of the marine environment;

- Committing to fail to perform activities other than survey, installation, maintenance, repair, and withdrawal of telecommunications cable lines;

- Setting up a project to install submarine telecommunications cable lines in accordance with the information and communication infrastructure planning, regulations on national defense, security, environmental protection and other regulations of relevant laws;

- Committing to be subject to inspection, control and instruction by the competent state agency upon survey, installation, maintenance, repair or withdrawal of cable lines in Vietnamese seas and bear all expenses for such inspection, control or instruction.

* A license for establishment of a private telecommunications network shall be issued to an organization when the following conditions are met:

- Committing to establish a private telecommunications network only for the purpose of provision of services for the network members (not for profitable purposes);

- Making a technical plan and a professional operation plan in conformity with the information and communications infrastructure planning and in accordance with regulations of this Law on telecommunications resources, connections, technical standards and regulations on telecommunications;

- Implementing measures to assure the safety of telecommunications infrastructure, cybersecurity and information security.

* A license for testing of telecommunications networks and services shall be issued to a telecommunications enterprise when the following conditions are met. To be specific:

- Services requested to be tested are telecommunications services not indicated in the issued telecommunications license or telecommunications services using telecommunications resources other than those already allocated;

- Testing scope and scale are limited in order to assess the technology and market before official commencement of business operation;

- The testing plan is compliance with regulations on telecommunications connection, service prices, technical regulations and standards.

* A license for establishment of telecommunications networks specified at Point d, Clause 3, Article 33 of the Law on Telecommunications 2023 shall be issued to an organization when all the following conditions are met:

- Committing to establish a telecommunications network for not-for-profit purposes;

- Making a technical plan in conformity with the information and communications infrastructure planning and in accordance with regulations of the Law on Telecommunications 2023 on telecommunications resources, connections, service prices, technical standards, regulations, quality of telecommunications services, safety of telecommunications infrastructure, protection of legitimate rights and interests of telecommunications service users and other regulations of relevant laws;

Regulations on exemption from telecommunications licenses, registration and notification of provision of telecommunications services in Vietnam as of July 1, 2024

In Article 42 of the Law on Telecommunications 2023, organizations and individuals engaged in telecommunications activities are exempted from obtaining telecommunications licenses, registering or notifying provision of telecommunications services in the following cases:

- They trade in telecommunications goods;

- They act as telecommunications service agents to provide telecommunications services;

- They hire transmission lines for provision of telecommunications application services;

- Members of the private telecommunications network belong to the same organization and do not establish their own telecommunications transmission lines.

More details can be found in the Law on Telecommunications 2023 effective from July 1, 2024, except for the provisions in Clause 3 and Clause 4, Article 72 of the Law on Telecommunications 2023.

To Quoc Trinh

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