2007: The golden opportunity for PT and IT Vietnam to break through!

On the 29th day of the Lunar New Year, although very busy during the last working day of the year of the Ministry of Posts and Telematics of Binh Tuat, Minister Do Trung Ta still spent more than an hour at the beginning of the morning to interview on the occasion. early Spring Dinh Hoi 2007.

It can be said that in 2006 marked a breakthrough development of Vietnam Post and Telecommunications (ICT) and Information Technology (IT) industry. Along with Vietnam's official accession to WTO, the field of post and telecommunication and IT has made important changes, with outstanding events such as Intel choosing Vietnam to invest in chip factories, Bill Gates visited Hanoi. ., and open opportunities to promote a strong economy in the coming years.

* Reporter: Could the Minister make a preliminary assessment of the achievements of the Vietnam Post and Telecommunication industry and IT in 2006?

- Minister Do Trung Ta : 2006 can be considered as the year of the Posts and Telecommunications industry and IT has achieved many important achievements. First of all, we must mention the development of the domestic business situation. Businesses in the industry have cooperated quite harmoniously, based on their previous commitments, which now turn into economic contracts that both sides benefit from to make good network connections. This has spurred the development of telecommunication network in 2006 with unprecedented speed.

At the end of 2005, the country had 15 million phones, marking a milestone for over 60 years. But in 2006 alone, we developed 10 million new subscribers. It can be said that this is a very encouraging result, demonstrating the effectiveness when telecommunications businesses have cooperated but also compete.

The second highlight, the Posts and Telecommunications industry and IT has officially entered the implementation of the development strategy of integration since 2000, but in 2006 it is in phase 2, demonstrating the initiative in international economic integration. In addition to identifying guidelines in 2003-2004: non-monopoly of business, competition on all types of services, IT and telecommunication industry - IT also coordinated with diplomatic missions, Government negotiation delegation to bilateral and multilateral negotiations to gain full autonomy in integration issues with WTO countries. The commitments herein are still expressed in accordance with the roadmap, there is still enough time for telecom and IT enterprises to develop and not face the risks brought about by the opening of the door to the outside.

IT growth rate in the past year is also very significant, still maintained at a speed of 25-30%. The export of software products in the year also reached 300 million USD. These things show that Vietnam's IT has gained certain achievements, creating internal resources for us to step into international cooperation.

Another impression is that the prestige of Vietnam's IT has gradually been strengthened. Vietnam IT has appeared on the IT map not only by the fact that Bill Gates visited and worked in Hanoi, but also expressed clearly in the ability to attract foreign investment through Intel's commitment to invest 630 million. USD, but then a very short time decided to raise the committed capital to $ 1 billion to build assembly plants, test their most modern chips.

If we pay close attention, soon after Intel invests in Vietnam, the flow of Japanese investment is also stronger. Particularly in the electronics sector, Japanese businesses have invested approximately $ 1 billion, although several different projects have been spread out. Business delegations from other economies such as China and Taiwan . also immediately joined and had very strong investment activities. The surrounding countries such as Laos and Cambodia always put the issue of cooperation with Vietnam in terms of technology and services.

Thus, we have just attracted domestic investment, thanks to that reputation and influence to step into foreign markets. Domestic and international prestige are bringing a very favorable opportunity for the field of Posts and Telecommunications and IT.

Another point worth mentioning is that last year, Vietnam has basically completed the legal framework in IT management and post and telecommunication with the introduction of the Electronic Transaction Law and IT Law. Along with the existing ordinance on Post and Telecommunications, we are now fully qualified to properly manage these areas, especially in the context of converging telecommunications, Internet and television services.

I think these are impressive points in Post and Telecommunications, IT in 2006.

"People pave the way" story for Vietnam Internet

* 2007 is a 10-year round of Internet presence in Vietnam. As a "pioneer" to bring the Internet into Vietnam, can the Minister share memories when persuading the Central Government to agree to open the Internet?

- I remember at that time, on the occasion of the Central Session 2, session VIII, mentioned the issue of science and technology development and education and training. As a member of the Party Central Committee and secretary of the Party Civil Affairs Committee of the General Department of Post and Telecommunications at the time, I felt responsible for reporting to the Central Government on the Internet, a very effective tool for scientific and technological development. and in particular, it will perform the task of training innovation.

Therefore, we would like to present to the Central Conference with the desire to convince the Central Government for Vietnam to deploy the Internet. It is a special mark because it is the first time to have a scientific report on the Central Conference. There has been no such report in history.

We applied for a report about 30-40 minutes, explaining the role of the Internet, the reality of the Internet in the world, how did the Internet in Vietnam begin to sprout? Why must we quickly bring the Internet in to serve the immediate needs of research and training. The same issue is very consistent with the agenda of this Central Conference VIII.

After that, we would like to have a demo (introduction) for each delegate to the 2 th Session VIII Central Conference to get 30 minutes to 1 hour "to visit and perform Internet". Especially emphasizing the possibility that we can limit negativity.

Because at that time the Internet was still very new, so the former General Secretary Do Muoi came to comrades in the Politburo, members of the Party Central Committee, everyone came to attend that performance. I remember we were able to get a room right in the headquarters of the Party Central Committee to present the Internet.

In the end, former General Secretary Do Muoi said: Of course, all of them have two sides of it, but we have to promote the good and overcome its bad aspects. I learned that the Politburo had already made a decision, and the Government submitted a report to open the Internet. By December 1997, we started to have Internet in Vietnam.

One very interesting thing is that soon after, the Central Office equipped the General Secretary with computers. At that time, the General Secretary used the Internet and said: "Unfortunately I am now older, my hands are not as agile as a young man and my English is limited so I cannot use my full capacity, I really like this Internet . "

After that, the General Secretary Le Kha Phieu succeeded in speaking a very good sentence about IT field with the idea: "We can hold chopsticks, we can also type the keyboard" .

Those are very deep memories when we put the Internet in Vietnam. That job received the approval from the highest central leaders to the people later. Up to now, the frustration of having an incident on the Internet due to earthquakes clearly shows the importance of the Internet to life. We put the Internet in slowly, but was consistent with the situation of the country and also achieved certain results through the right decision of the Central at that time.

* At that time, to convince the Central Government to agree, did the Minister face any difficulties?

". must say the Internet has come to the real village, and the now-employed farmer has a real mobile phone carrier."- Photo: VNN

- (Laugh) At that time, it was probably because I talked too long, there were high-ranking officials saying: The Decree has more serious issues, but why only discuss Internet? It is a very profound lesson in how I cannot measure the time to present. Also because there are many important things in that new issue, I try to take advantage of the rare opportunity to present. But I think that criticizing me at that time does not mean stopping the Internet, but because I cannot hold back my longing.

There are also some concerns that the Internet may have malicious aspects coming in, especially ideological-related issues. At that time, we had to prove that it would be limited to the maximum, but in fact I had anticipated those things, so even during the presentation of the Internet, I mentioned technically only limited availability. level only. If we do our best by technology to limit it, it will lead to very economic problems. In the current period, science and technology can solve very difficult and solve problems according to human intent, but doing science at all costs is not the present time. Must be very economically calculating!

So I have proposed that we must first combine the vigilance of the people, the awareness of the people, we will overcome. Just like a bad report will not read, when there is such awareness, we will not worry. The second is that in society there are certainly bad people who are good people, we monitor bad people to prevent bad things, but we cannot use technology to track all 84 million people, it will be very difficult and distracting. charge .

In addition to being vigilant, well aware, there is also a third issue of technology, we can also coordinate to monitor, then both society, school, family . to join, how to class Young people of the country have both Internet as a means to study and develop, but still receive awareness education and full supervision.

Internet plus education is the best means for improving intellectual standards and improving understanding. But the negative side will reverse the negative effects on young people through the Internet.

* Can the Minister assess the meaning of bringing the Internet to remote areas, for rural people with the opportunity to receive new knowledge?

- Three years ago, around 2004, when the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications leaders decided not to monopolize the company and compete on all types of services, I also came up with an idea and told you that Can we bring the Internet to the village, and can the farmer have "mobile pants for trimming pants?".

Focus your thoughts on these two areas, at which time someone said: " The boss is a bit hasty, slightly" loading "in this ." But looking back now, it must be said that the Internet has come to the real village, and the now-employed farmer has a real mobile phone carrier.

As recently, mobile also provides Internet, it is clear that conditions for Internet access to villages, Internet access to remote areas, island and postal borders of communes are of course very normal. not something that is too difficult for us.

Therefore, we have heard a lot of touching information, such as farmers selling fish, selling grapefruit and their agricultural products online. And when the Internet network was malfunctioned, the farmers also responded, calling for help very drastically. That is, they are familiar with these modern means and feel indispensable.

So we went too fast on the Internet. Bangkok Post Newspaper (Bangkok Post) said that in 2006, Vietnam won Thailand more Internet users, and attracted Intel to invest in building a chip factory.

It can be said that Vietnamese intellectuals are compatible with new technology very well, and this is a favorable condition. In just a short time, I think we can increase the number of Internet users by about 50% of the population. If you notice that we have 60-70% of the population as young people, getting the Internet to 60-70% of the population is probably not difficult.

WTO negotiations on telecommunications - Decisive moments

* Can the Minister share about the difficulties in negotiating telecommunications at critical stages in the WTO accession process last year?

- In fact, it can be said that the field of Posts and Telecommunications and IT are bargaining conditions in each country's negotiation. Every country wants to win the majority, the initiative and the majority of it in this area. Therefore, for countries, their biggest pressure is to demand information across borders. With current technology, operators can be in another country and customers completely in Vietnam without needing any equipment located in the country of Vietnam.

So when I report to the Politburo, I have made it clear that, if we accept all of these conditions, in the field of Posts and Telecommunications and IT, there is no longer the S shape of Vietnam. half.

The Politburo as well as everyone understands that it is true that the Post and Telecommunications and IT are associated with national security, attached to a country's sovereignty, so the direction of the Politburo then speaks very actively and co- with the idea that the Ministry of Post and Telematics proposes: These bargaining conditions must be calculated in terms of concessions only in the case of "full package" but not individual concessions. Because if counted separately, for example, negotiating telecommunications, people would demand textile or finance. All of the nation's problems lie only in one package. We should package telecom into other common issues. If I give in to some of these points, then "he" must give in to me.

During the actual negotiation there were times when we had to give in. For example, we agree to lift them to the express delivery rate of up to 50%, forcing them to create conditions for our textiles. That is, it is impossible to bring the common national interests to negotiate for each issue, each sector individually.

On the contrary, if he requires excessive banking and financial issues, of course, telecommunications is just that. If, according to them, all of these services are available, both telecommunication and postage delivery, computers and banks, including insurance finance, then we will fall into a very difficult situation and many challenges. .

Another thing is that Vietnam cannot compare with China in terms of development, so if our commitments are a bit or more than China, (China + or China +), then it must be said that Vietnam goodwill already.

Minister Do Trung Ta: " If we accept all the conditions of telecom partners' opening up, then in the field of telecom and IT, there is no longer the S shape of Vietnam ." - Photo: VNN

In the end, we also agreed to open the roadmap, negotiating the fiber optic cable to only land in Vietnam. Foreign sovereignty comes only there, but from the shore of Vietnam is decided by Vietnamese enterprises. In multinational companies, I can give your waves to multinational companies' headquarters, but that doesn't mean reaching Vietnamese customers. If they want to come to Vietnamese customers, they are forced to enter into joint ventures with businesses that are allowed to trade in this international service.

* Does the minister have to "loud" with Minister Truong Dinh Tuyen on some WTO negotiation issues about telecommunications? If yes, can the Minister recount this story?

- Saying "quarrel" with the negotiating team is just a simple way of saying it. In fact, it is a debate, because those who directly negotiate cannot be in-depth about IT and telecommunications. They are also very sincere in that when there is a desire of the negotiating partner, to receive the proposal of the other party, the negotiating delegation is expected to agree, then all the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications consult. Of course, the specialized ministry will be more profound in terms of expertise, and they will also absorb, not to the extent of "quarreling".

In the negotiation, we also appointed a Deputy Director of International Cooperation Department to participate in the WTO negotiations from the beginning to the end, without giving up any session. In this process, I also wrote a private letter to Minister Truong Dinh Tuyen.

This letter has two contents: First, I support the negotiating delegation if there is a "telecoms concession", only accepting the conditions of exchanging the package, not separating the telecom segment to ensure for national interests. Secondly, in the negotiation, attention should be paid to specialized management aspects associated with sovereign security. This security is also a commitment for Vietnam to join its commitments on terrorism. With those persuasive arguments, we have appropriate, reasonable negotiating results.

"2007: The opportunity for Vietnam Post and Telecommunication to develop breakthroughs!"

* It is expected that in 2007, Vietnam's telecommunications is very lively about mobile and Internet. Could you tell me your comments and forecasts under the perspective of a long-time expert on telecommunications?

- In 2007, an event took place right on the first day of Dinh Hoi Tet 2007 (February 17, 2007), the country will reach a density of 35 telephones per 100 people. This figure was set by the Resolution of the Xth Party Congress for the Posts and Telecommunications industry to be completed in 2010.

Thus, we have reached the finish line 3 years early. This is a relatively strong mark of the telecommunications industry right in the beginning of the new year. To achieve this goal, we mainly develop mobile subscribers. Also, this year, with mobile service providers, the goal is to grow from 150 to 200% of existing subscribers.

Second, in terms of broadband service, broadband quality will have to go into more practical. Not only businesses must register quality publicly, provide information to customers that the Ministry of Post and Telematics will directly check.

Thanks to the development of broadband services, many other services, especially converged services, will develop, including online radio and television. On the TV screen, people can go online, email and trade online. Also on the computer, when we go to the Internet we can also watch movie channels, TV shows and listen to the radio.

First, mobile subscribers developed in 2007 are expected to double now. Second, broadband is growing strongly on both wired and wireless devices. As a result, the third consequence is that the services will converge very strongly, both in telecommunications, Internet radio and television.

The fourth consequence is a strong combination of fixed and mobile technologies, creating information capabilities in Vietnam wherever and wherever, helping to bridge the digital divide between rural and urban areas of Vietnam. Information will be available to all Vietnamese people.

With these goals, the ministry will also set strict tasks on network security and safety. If this task is not guaranteed, Vietnam will not be able to implement e-Government and e-commerce development despite modern network infrastructure.

This is also the year of stimulation for content services, content development industry. Having done so, we can effectively use the broadband network, and the new IT really comes to life, into e-commerce, e-government, remote health, into E-learning. .

This year, we also need to set out the task of providing peace of mind to customers. I temporarily call it Task 3 A: Security, Network Safety and Peace of mind.

* Dear Minister, CDMA technology with wireless broadband connection can be deployed at lower cost than fixed phone. So is the goal of universal Internet access to rural areas by pulling copper cables backward?

- CDMA 450 Mhz network has advantages for developing broadband telecommunication network with long distance, with low price. For both GSM and CDMA mobile networks, if allowed to provide intra-regional mobile services, it will grow stronger in remote areas.

However, if you look at a developed telecom country, mobility is not all. Fixed has a special advantage, especially in mountainous areas, and remote areas. If there is a fixed machine, farmers do not have to worry about power for the phone, because the operator will supply this power from the switchboard. While, for wireless networks, whether indoors or mobile, there must be a power source. Therefore, no matter how mobile it is, it is impossible to eliminate landline phones, especially in every family.

However, mobile rates are getting cheaper, to the extent that businesses suffer losses when providing fixed services but still have to do. Solving this problem, we have the Public Telecommunication Service Fund. Accordingly, the State has policies to support businesses, compensate for losses when bringing phones to remote areas.

Fixed telephone, if put into a wide band, each resident will have fiber optic cable, on which all phones, Internet, cable TV, digital television. This is convergence. Ministry of Post and Telematics is recommending enterprises to install fiber optic cable or standard copper wire for ADSL service. Mobile people hold people with them, while people at home still need a fixed phone in the house.

Last year, when the Ministry encouraged the development of fixed telephones, VNPT only developed 1.2 million units in the year. This is very significant because we still go up to modern, increasing the level of general use, while providing other services, when there are conditions to bring optical fiber to the house. At the same time, providing convergence services, creating automation to every family: People who visit the home will be automatically recorded, how much electricity charges will be recorded . At that time, fixed again "crowned" in the house, while mobile developed outside the road. Mobile and fixed at that time will all promote their meaning.

Our switchboard will also develop to a convergence stage between fixed and mobile, it is difficult to distinguish between fixed switchboard, where is mobile, where is switch, where is transmission. So when the technology converges, we have the most economically efficient calculations, then people will be using the safest and most effective services. Ensuring their virtual currency when transferred online is preserved as in a bank account.

"2007 must be the year of quality telecommunications service!" - Photo: VNN * The remaining problems of 2006 made the minister anxious and expected to be solved in 2007?

- First, 2007 must be a year of practical service quality, in fact, not just an advertisement. Quality is registered by the enterprise with the Ministry and customers. Ministry of Post and Telematics will check to ensure customers can use the service effectively and with high quality technology.

Secondly, after foreign cooperation, domestic industrial enterprises must quickly seize this opportunity to develop the domestic high-tech industry. Vietnam's IT industry relies on multi-purpose chips of the world, but we have to design and write software for Vietnamese computers. Thus, international cooperation, division of labor, and Vietnamese intelligence must create Vietnamese products.

Thirdly, we must take a very focused step to ensure network security. Quality of service associated with network security. However, service quality can be developed step by step, but network security needs to be quickly developed and needs a strong enough force to ensure information security, especially in activities. Financial services are deployed online.

Dawn