Vietnam: Consultation closed on the telecommunication draft decree including licensing requirements

On 7 October 2021 Vietnam's Ministry of Information and Communications ('MIC') closed the consultation on the telecommunication draft decree, that was opened on 4 August 2021. The draft would amend and supplement a number of articles of the Government's Decree No. 25/2011/ND-CP dated 6 April 2011, detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Telecommunications. Among others, the draft provisions provide that a telecommunication license may be issued depending on the criteria of minimum chartered capital and investment commitment levels when establishing telecommunication networks according to the scope of network setup, rather than relying on the criteria of frequency bands and number of subscribers, as it is formulated under the current law. Additionally, a new article 24d is added in the draft, requiring enterprises to report their proposed business plan six months before the license expires to the Telecommunication Management Authority ('TMA'). In case of no longer continuing the business, the enterprise is responsible for notifying the users and related parties before the license expires, thus ensuring the rights and interests of users.