Production of phones using 2G and 3G technology would stop in Viet Nam from the beginning of July. — File Photo

The production and import of phones using 2G and 3G technology will stop from the beginning of July, according to a new circular from the Ministry of Information and Communications.

Circular No 43 about national technical regulations on terrestrial mobile communication equipment, which takes effect from July 1, states all mobile phones manufactured or imported into Viet Nam must use Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) or 4G technology.

This means all mobile devices with simply 2G, 3G or combined technology would not be produced and imported into Viet Nam.

Phones which were produced and imported before July 1 would still be allowed to be sold.

The circular was considered a step towards turning off 2G in the first quarter of 2022 as well as the programme of universalisation of smartphones.

Previously, Hoang Minh Cuong, Director of the Telecommunications Department under the Ministry of Information and Communications, said that the production of phones with 2G technology had decreased significantly. The number of phones fell by 6-7 million units from the end of 2019 to the end of the third quarter of 2020.

Cuong said that the other 12 million phones were expected to be wiped out in the first quarter of 2022.

Viet Nam aims for all residents to use smartphones by 2025 with the strategy of providing “made-in-Viet Nam” smartphones costing less than US$50. Many phone producers and network providers have signed up to the plan.

Vu Hoang Lien, President of Viet Nam Internet Association, said that the universalisation of smartphones was a bold effort to promote national digital transformation, digital economy and e-Government.

A market research study by Adsota showed that about 44.9 per cent of the Vietnamese population used smartphones by 2020.

Viet Nam was piloting 5G services and targeted to universalise 5G in the 2023-25 period. — VNS