Vietnam announced it will begin researching and developing 6G technology this year with ambitions to become a global leader in the digital world, earmarking cloud computing and digital platforms as beneficiaries to the future standard.
Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Mạnh Hung said it was time for the nation to get ahead of infrastructure development and gain a footing in cloud computing and digital platforms, reported Vietnam News.
The digital industry is estimated to grow at a pace of $136 billion a year with more than 64,000 companies established.
Nguyen said the government’s objective is to become one of the world’s leading nations in digitisation and meet the demand for skilled workers. To do this, he stated the importance of cloud computing and digital platforms, which are the fastest-growing technology fields with an annual growth rate of 15% to 20% in the country.
The minister also noted the two fields will meet or even surpass telecommunication which he claimed has reached a saturation point.
The telecommunications sector must address long term issues such as rampant text messaging ads and calling before it is useful for a digital economy, said Nguyen.
Vietnam is aiming to become one of the top 30 nations in the world for advanced and robust digital infrastructure by 2025.
"In order to realise these targets, the telecommunication sector must start now to get ahead of the competition to develop 6G technologies and hardware as well as to build the country's 5G network," said Hung.
He rallied domestic companies to invest in the development of 5G and 6G pledging government support will be provided.