Viet Nam actively participated in forums and meetings of the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT) Wireless Group, and contributed possible recommendations on a harmonised frequency band plan for the 700 MHz band.

Director General of the Authority of Radio Frequency Management of Viet Nam (ARFM), Doan Quang Hoan told Viet Nam News at the 23rd meeting of the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity Wireless Group (AWG-23) in Da Nang yesterday.

He said Viet Nam had joined the AWG early to propose initiatives among member countries in the Asia-Pacific region in planning frequency for new technology applications.

Hoan said AWG’s frequency plans and recommendations over past years had been widely used not just in the local region, but on a global platform as well.

“For example, APT’s plan for the 700 MHz band, which was used for television technology, was then applied to broadband radio among European and African countries,” Hoan said, adding that Viet Nam also joined the AWG in promoting the plan.

“Viet Nam even took a role in researching radio frequency at AWG forums and discussions, and the country also hosted a series of key meetings of ATP with the participation of many representatives from regional countries.”

Deputy minister of information and communications, Pham Hong Hai, said the outputs of AWG have effectively assisted APT members in using the radio frequency spectrum and deploying wireless networks.

Hai said the AWG recommendation on a harmonised frequency band plan for the 700 MHz band has been adopted by a huge number of countries in all regions of the world.

“The demand of mobile communication can be seen through the continuing development of telecommunication and mobile internet infrastructure. The wireless applications and technologies such as ITS, wireless power transmission, railway radio communication system, and unmanned aircraft are emerging as well. It all requires policy makers to prepare relevant policies, and allocate additional spectrum resources and operators to prepare for this development,” Hai said in the opening ceremony.

He also highly appreciated the key contribution of AWG to the growth of radio communications by developing the best practices and recommendations for the use of spectrum and harmonizing mobile broadband and emerging technologies.

“Only by working together can we successfully promote the development and harmonization of wireless systems.”

Secretary General of ATP, Areewan Haorangsi said the AWG-23 focus on assisting APT members to improve spectrum management practices to mitigate digital infrastructure constraint relating to the use of spectrum.

“At the 14th Session of the General Assembly of the APT (GA-14) held in November last year, the Strategic Plan of the APT for of 2018-2020 was adopted which emphasises five strategic pillars and identifies a number of strategic actions to be implemented by all APT work programmes,” Areewan Haorangsi said.

“The new strategic plan of the APT has given a lot of emphasis on developing the digital infrastructure and harnessing the benefits of new technologies. The Strategic Plan focuses on increasing broadband penetration particularly reaching to the underserved and unserved population to ensure affordability and quality of service with improved speed and coverage,” she said.

The secretary general added that the strategic plan has also given directions to APT to continue its effort to foster the development and adoption of the latest telecommunication technologies.

She stressed that AWG has always been active in developing numerous tangible outcomes in order to implement the previous Strategic Plans of APT.

Chairman of APT, Kohei Satoh said he hoped the AWG-23 would gain results during the five-day discussions among members.

Nguyen Anh Tuan, deputy manager of spectrum policy and planning office, under the ARFM, said Viet Nam will offer some initiatives and recommendations at the AWG-23 including smart traffic, and broadband use for new applications in mobile phones, internet and wireless routers.

Tuan said Viet Nam has benefited from positive co-operation among members of ATP and AWG as the country has witnessed booming internet use over the past decade.

Discussions and working sessions in frequency management, spectrum arrangement, additional spectrums available for 4G and many other emerging wireless technologies among ATP members will continue till April 13th. — VNS