From the undersea cable incident, Vietnam has the opportunity to become a hub connecting the region

Two sea cable lines ADC, SJC2 will come into operation this year

Currently, Vietnamese telecommunications businesses are participating in the exploitation of 5 international undersea fiber optic cable routes including Asia America Gateway (AAG), APG (Asia Pacific Gateway), SMW3 (also known as SEA – ME – WE3), Intra Asia (IA, also known as Pan-Asia) and Asia – Africa – Euro 1 (AAE-1).

At the interview with the press on February 10 about the content surrounding having up to 4 sea cable routes that Vietnamese carriers use are having problems, said Nguyen Hong Thang, Director of the Department of Telecommunication, Ministry of Information and Communications, the ministry realizes that difficult times create new opportunities. When undersea fiber optic cables connecting to Hong Kong (China) and Singapore face many difficulties, we see an opportunity for Vietnam to become a hub for international connections.

Mr. Nguyen Hong Thang also emphasized that, in order to solve the problem of international connectivity in the long term, more sea cables are needed:The investment in developing more undersea cable routes is not only to better meet the needs of Internet users but also to ensure availability, in many directions, not depending too much on 1 or 2 existing directions..

Therefore, Ministry of Information and Communications Directed telecommunications businesses to invest in undersea fiber optic cables, opening new landing stations such as Quy Nhon, in addition to the current stations in Da Nang and Ba Ria – Vung Tau.

Recently, two large enterprises, VNPT and Viettel, have entered into alliances to invest in building new undersea cable routes, namely SJC2 and ADC. Following the set schedule, this year, these two undersea fiber optic cables will be completed and put into official operation. Thus, right in 2023, the number of sea cable routes exploited and used by Vietnamese enterprises will be increased to 7 routes.

Evaluation of these 2 new undersea cable routes, talk to VietNamNetVu The Binh, Vice President and Secretary of the Vietnam Internet Association (VIA), said that both SJC2 and ADC undersea cables are applied the latest technologies, so the capacity and cost are both affordable. better performance than current undersea cables. It is certain that, when new undersea cables are put into operation, Vietnam’s dependence on current undersea cables will be reduced; along with that, the safety, stability of service quality will also increase.

The new point with 2 cable routes ADC, SJC2 is to be connected to Vietnam in Quy Nhon, Binh Dinh. This has both helped increase the safety of Vietnam’s international connection system, not concentrating in one place ashore.

On the other hand, according to a representative of VIA, the fact that the two cable routes SJC2, ADC still connect to Hong Kong and Singapore affirms the fact of the great role of these two main hubs, but also shows that Vietnam can step by step have opportunities. become a transit station, connecting the region if the infrastructure connecting to the Western countries as well as the domestic infrastructure is developed stronger.

Opportunity to make Vietnam become the connecting hub of the region

Also in the new information shared with the press, Director of the Department of Telecommunications Nguyen Hong Thang said that through many undersea fiber optic cables having problems, the Ministry of Information and Communications found that the incidents also created new opportunities for development. undersea cable routes, making Vietnam a hub in the region, avoiding dependence on the two main hubs Singapore and Hong Kong.

In fact, 5 existing cable routes and 2 new cable routes expected to be put into operation this year are built by international partners and Vietnamese enterprises play the role of investment members. and use.

To increase the initiative of Vietnam, the Ministry of Information and Communications is directing Vietnamese enterprises to build about 2 international undersea cable routes invested and owned by a group of domestic enterprises allied with each other. “The Ministry of Information and Communications will be the focal point to gather and mobilize domestic telecommunications enterprises to coordinate in construction, in which there will be large and strong enterprises leading the deployment and other enterprises participating and contributing.” Mr. Nguyen Hong Thang information.

Thus, with the above orientation, it is expected that by 2025, the total number of undersea cable routes used by Vietnamese enterprises will be about 10 routes, double the current number.

Affirming that the opportunity to turn Vietnam into a regional hub is real and big but very challenging, a representative of the Department of Telecommunication said that to solve this big problem, the Ministry of Information and Communications has established a Steering Committee to discuss and plan. plans to build undersea fiber optic cables.

“The Steering Committee for troubleshooting and developing the national plan on undersea fiber optic cables will discuss in detail the construction of new cable routes with direction, capacity, appropriate time as well as efficiency. invest. At the same time, it is also necessary to focus on developing data centers and cloud systems in the country, so that we have the opportunity to make Vietnam the hub of the region.”a representative of the Department of Telecommunications said.