'Bringing the whole country into a broadband era'

On the morning of June 14 in Hanoi, Intel, the Data and Communication Company (VDC) and the United States Agency for International Development in Vietnam (USAid) signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate in testing. WiMAX in Lao Cai province. Lao Cai province has been selected to test broadband wireless technology to provide access to modern information and communication in the world for remote areas.

Under this agreement, together with Lao Cai province and local partners, the three parties will work together to test WiMAX technology for an eight-month period (starting July 2006), which uses a main station and 18 civil connection stations in Lao Cai province. Other programs are also in the process of planning to use satellites to connect, expanding WiMAX to remote areas that are difficult to reach by road.

Evaluation of this program, Mr. Pham Long Tran, Chairman of Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) said: ' We believe the deployment of WiMAX trial in Lao Cai will be successful and become a model. to deploy in other remote areas to contribute to improving people's lives. VNPT is committed to providing comprehensive support for project implementation. It is the people who benefit. WiMax will help connect urban and rural, industrial and agricultural sectors . '

Gerry Greeve, Intel's vice president of communications, said: ' Intel believes that WiMAX technology can help Vietnam become an economically and socially dynamic country. We work together with the Government and environmental technology agencies to improve access to technology and achieve digital results thanks to the modern and synchronous broadband broadband technology deployment strategy. . The implementation will also help Vietnam and its partners reach the height of digital Southeast Asia, making Southeast Asia a global competitive region. High-speed Internet connection helps narrow the digital gap between urban and rural areas . '

The parties involved in the test answered interviews with the press.

Mr. Tim Beans, Director of Asian Regional Development (RDMA) of USAID said: 'During a decade of socio-economic renewal, Vietnam's human development program has reduced the poverty rate. 33%. In the next decade, Information and Communication Technology along with the ability to access world knowledge will be the key for Vietnam to integrate with the global economy, become a competitive economy. high. The equipping of leading technologies in both the private and public sectors in Vietnam is now increasingly creating more job opportunities and becoming prosperous in the future as regional and international markets grow. and develop.

According to Vu Hoang Lien, Director of VDC: ' We will comprehensively evaluate this experiment, not just the technology side, but also the effectiveness of the project with the community, the applicability of the services, . VDC wishes to turn Vietnam into a center of information and communication technology in Southeast Asia by bringing the country into a broadband era, increasing global competitiveness, opening up the Fair opportunities make fundamental changes in life and economy. '

According to Mr. Lien, customers are expecting a lot on Mobile WiMAX, so in the next phase, it is expected to test this field.

According to Pham Anh Chien, Head of System Integration Department of VDC, WiMAX testing in Lao Cai was conducted at frequencies from 3.3 to 3.4 Ghz. In 18 surveyed sites, there are 6 schools, health facilities, People's Committees and small and medium enterprises selected. In particular, a farmer household who does not have a phone or Internet connection is also selected to test WiMAX. Thereby, this household can contact the child currently working away from home. The parties selected Lao Cai to test because this is a remote area, there are many concave points for IT and telecommunications.

According to Mr. Chien, the selected points will be equipped with computers, equipment, VoIP phones and Wifi. In the early stages, testing voice and Internet services.

The WiMAX test program will demonstrate the economic and social development benefits of expanding access to advanced information and communication technology services such as VoIP telephone services (technology voice communication via Internet protocol), and modern internet support for schools, clinics, training and vocational institutions, local small businesses, hotels and other social needs - copper time to support priority public services of local authorities.

The partnership is also part of Intel's Asian Broadband Campaign (ABC), a regional-wide program to accelerate wireless broadband deployments in countries under Southeast Asia. Intel will provide extensive knowledge of wireless broadband, silicon technology and technology services to governments, communications managers, education and health agencies and agriculture as well as telecommunications providers aim to help prepare and implement WiMAX technology testing. Compared to wired technology, wireless networks are more cost-effective and faster to build, so service providers can be more flexible in giving communities the lack of a service. Modern 'knowledge' at a moderate cost.

About WiMAX technology

WiMAX technology, or 802.16, is a broadband wireless technology that is developing very fast with a wide range of capabilities and is considered to have great potential to become the 'last mile' solution. Ideal to bring high-speed Internet connectivity to families and offices.

While familiar Wi-Fi technology (802.11a, b and g) provides connectivity to small areas such as offices or hotspot public access points, WiMAX technology has wide coverage capabilities. more, covering an entire urban area or a certain rural area. This technology can provide data transfer rates up to 75 Mbps at each broadcast station with a range of 2 to 10 km. With such bandwidth, this technology is capable of supporting simultaneously (via a single broadcast station) the connectivity of more than 60 businesses with the connection speeds of T1 / E1 and hundreds family with DSL connection speed.

L.Quang