The Vietnamese Ministry of Information and Communication (“MICROPHONE“) has just published and called for a public consultation on the draft decree amending and supplementing several provisions of decree n ° 25/2011 / ND-CP implementing the law on telecommunications (“Draft decree“). The deadline for contributing to this consultation is October 7, 2021.

The draft decree introduces comprehensive changes focusing on the following areas:

• Telecommunications license;
• Administration of competition in the telecommunications market;
• Administration of charges for telecommunications services;
• Administration of commercial promotion in the telecommunications market;
• Administration of telecommunication payment cards;
• Management of the digital telecommunications repository; and
• Recording, storage and use of subscriber information.

Without going into detail, I highlight below some notable issues as seen in the categories above:

1. Telecommunications license: The circumstances in which a telecommunications license would be revoked are already provided for in the Telecommunications Act, section 39.1. The draft decree supplements a provision, thus allowing companies, on their own initiative, to request such a revocation, for example, due to changes in their business operations.

2. Competition in the telecommunications market: The draft decree clarifies the competence of the Vietnamese Telecommunications Authority (“VNTA“). Practices restricting competition or those of unfair competition will generally be the competence of the Vietnamese Competition Commission. The VNTA will only deal with those which fall within the scope of Article 19.2 of the Law on telecommunications.

3. Telecommunications service charges: The MIC no longer provides the tariff for the public utility telecommunications service, but can still stipulate its ceiling price and its floor price. Retail tariffs must be registered with VNTA and must be published by companies providing retail services.

4. Request for subscriber / user data: User / subscriber information shall be kept by the service providers and the service provider is obliged to provide the user information to a competent authority upon request, in accordance with the laws.

5. Mobile number portability (“MNP“): The MNP is now recognized in the draft decree. The MNP would be handled centrally by the VNTA’s Service and Network Development Support Center. This provision will be stipulated in more detail by the MIC.