Two 700 MHz frequency bands 'listed', starting price 1,995 billion VND

The right to use two 700 MHz frequency bands B1-B1' and B3-B3' is about to be auctioned by the Ministry of Science and Technology.

On the evening of July 21, the Ministry of Science and Technology issued a plan to re-auction the right to use two frequency bands in the 700 MHz range, including 703-713 and 758-768 MHz (block B1-B1') and 723-733 and 778-788 MHz (block B3-B3'). The starting price for 15 years of use for each block is VND 1,995,613,000,000.

The auction will be held in the form of direct voting, with each step costing VND 20 billion. Participating enterprises must deposit VND 100 billion in advance. Enterprises have 30 days to submit documents requesting confirmation of eligibility to participate.

B1-B1' and B3-B3' belong to the low-band group, used to deploy analog television before this service was discontinued in 2020. The two blocks are currently planned for mobile information systems according to the IMT-Advanced standard.

Technically, the coverage radius on this band block is 1.8 times larger than that of the 1,800 MHz block, which helps the network operator save deployment costs and improve network quality.

There are three 700 MHz band blocks auctioned. In May, Viettel won the right to use the B2-B2' block (713-723 and 768-778 MHz), becoming the first network operator to own the 700 MHz band. Therefore, Viettel will not be able to participate in this auction.

Engineers are testing a 5G base station developed in Vietnam. Photo: Trong Dat

If licensed to provide terrestrial mobile telecommunications services, the bidding enterprise must commit to deploying at least 2,000 new mobile broadcasting stations within two years from the date of being granted the license to use the frequency band. Of these, at least 650 stations must serve to cover sea and island areas.

Terrestrial mobile telecommunications services using the two frequency bands B1-B1' and B3-B3' must officially start broadcasting no later than 12 months from the date of being granted the license. At that time, the enterprise must deploy at least 30% of the committed broadcasting stations in the first two years. They must also cover 100% of the invested expressways with mobile services by 2030.

According to the Director of the Frequency Department, Le Van Tuan, the goal of the auction of the 700 MHz frequency bands is to support the ability to cover mobile information over a wide area, especially in rural and mountainous areas, while improving the quality of indoor coverage in urban areas.

He said that this is a premise to promote digital equality, bring technology to all people, and contribute to the development of telecommunications infrastructure, the Internet, 5G, 6G mobile networks and next generations. In fact, in more than a year since March 2024, the auction of the right to use the bands has raised more than 14,000 billion VND for the state budget.

The trend of using mobile Internet also continues to increase in the context of the Ministry of Science and Technology promoting the development of digital infrastructure. By April, Vietnam had 104.7 million mobile broadband Internet subscribers, up 14.4% compared to 2024.

Trong Dat