Vietnam amends 2009 telecoms law

The updated and modernised law aims to promote national digital transformation

The National Assembly (NA) of Vietnam officially approved the amendments to the Law on Telecommunications to update and modernise the country’s existing legal framework.

In a statement, the Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) of Vietnam said the revised law stipulates new regulations on the management of data centres, cloud computing, and basic telecommunications services on the Internet.

The amendment, which sailed through the legislature with 468 yes votes among NA deputies, aims to address institutional issues, policy gaps, and inadequacies in the provisions of the 2009 Law on Telecommunications and other related legal regulations.

According to Vietnam’s Authority of Telecommunications (AOT), digital technology and transformation over the past years significantly impacted the country’s telecommunications industry.

With this, the NA said it is necessary to revise the law to ensure the conformity of laws and regulations “as the legal framework has changed a lot with many laws having been enacted, amended, and supplemented.” 

The new law is also expected to support the implementation of Vietnam’s policies on the “fourth industrial revolution,” and fulfil its commitments to develop the country’s telecommunications sector.