The ADC submarine cable is ready to be put into operation starting from December 2024

ADC (Asia Direct Cable) - The latest submarine cable in the Intra-Asia region, spanning nearly 10.000 km with an initial capacity of over 160 Tbps, will officially be commercially operational in December 2024.

On December 18, 2024, Viettel Solutions Corporation, a subsidiary of the Viettel Group, along with leading regional telecom operators including China Telecom (China), China Unicom, NT (Thailand), PLDT (Philippines), Singtel (Singapore), Softbank (Japan), and Tata Communications hosted the inauguration ceremony for the ADC submarine cable in Hanoi. Over the past 8 years, this is the highest-capacity and newest submarine optical fiber cable system to be put into operation, connecting East Asia and Southeast Asia, with a total cable length of nearly 10.000 km. The ADC cable connects to 7 landing stations in countries along the cable route, including Japan, Hong Kong SAR, China, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, and Vietnam (in Quy Nhon, Binh Dinh).

In terms of design, the cable features an 8-fiber pair (8FP) configuration on the main route from Singapore to Hong Kong and Japan, using high-density wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) technology. The initial design capacity exceeds 160 Tbps and is capable of supporting the latest technologies in the future. Notably, the ADC submarine cable is designed to directly connect to the largest data centers in Asia, including those in Singapore, Japan, and Hong Kong.

After 6 years of implementation, overcoming numerous challenges, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, global supply chain disruptions, and political tensions and conflicts worldwide. Nine investors (Viettel, Softbank, China Telecom Global, China Telecom Corporation, China Unicom, Singtel, TATA Communications, National Telecom, PLDT) and the contractor NEC successfully completed the deployment and signed the project acceptance on November 8, 2024. This is an important milestone for the official operation of the ADC cable line starting from December 19, 2024.

Among them, Viettel is the only investor in Vietnam that owns one fiber pair (FP) on the main route, with a minimum design capacity of 20 Tbps, and also owns the entire submarine cable branch and landing station in Vietnam. Once operational, ADC will be the largest submarine cable in Vietnam, with a capacity twice tha of the current largest cable, AAE-1.

This fifth submarine cable of Viettel will provide a large, high-speed capacity for international connectivity from Vietnam, meeting the demands of high-speed, high-bandwidth services and technologies in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4.0), such as 5G, Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), Augmented/Virtual Reality (AR/VR), and more. Additionally, it will enhance redundancy, security, and sustainability for Viettel's internet infrastructure in particular, and for Vietnam's internet infrastructure in general.

“NEC is honoured to have taken part in this prestigious project, which will support increasingly bandwidth-intensive applications driven by technological advancements in 5G, the cloud, the Internet-of-Things and Artificial Intelligence”, said Tomonori Uematsu, Senior Vice President with NEC Corporation.

At the inauguration ceremony, Mr. Pham Trung Kien, Deputy CEO of Viettel Solutions Corporation, emphasized: “Along with the currently operating submarine cables such as TGN-IA, AAG, APG, and AAE-1, the ADC submarine cable will be a powerful support, helping to offload traffic from other cables. This will contribute to enhancing network safety, national cybersecurity, as well as improving the quality of telecommunications services that Viettel provides to its customers”.

Thus, after 8 years since the AAE-1 submarine cable connecting Vietnam to international networks was launched in 2017, Vietnam now has an additional high-capacity submarine cable ready for operation. This also marks the newest cable in the Intra-Asia region in the past 8 years.

This submarine cable also serves as evidence of Viettel's efforts in implementing the strategy for developing international submarine optical fiber systems set by the Ministry of Information and Communications, with a roadmap through 2030 and a vision for 2035.

Also in 2024, Viettel Solutions, along with leading regional telecom operators, invested in the ALC submarine cable project to connect major Hubs in the Asia-Pacific region. At the same time, the company officially announced the VTS submarine cable project, which directly connects Vietnam and Singapore in partnership with Singtel. This is expected to be the shortest cable route directly linking Vietnam to Singapore, the largest Digital Hub in Asia, with the most advanced bandwidth and technology. From there, it continues to affirm that Viettel is No.1 enterprise in international connectivity infrastructure in Vietnam.

On August 14th, 2023, the opening ceremony of the Intelligent Operation Center (IOC) took place at the Da Nang City Administrative Center. This is one of the first provinces to choose Viettel Solutions to deploy a synchronous Intelligent Operations Center in the entire region from city to district level.

The opening ceremony was attended by Mr. Nguyen Van Quang, a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Secretary of the Da Nang City Party Committee, Head of the Da Nang City National Assembly Delegation; Mr. Luong Nguyen Minh Triet, an alternate member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Permanent Vice Secretary of the Da Nang City Party Committee, Chairman of the Da Nang City People's Council; Me. Le Trung Chinh, Vice Secretary of the Da Nang City Party Committee, Chairman of the Da Nang City People's Committee, and leaders of the telecommunications industry associations, departments, and agencies in Da Nang City. On behalf of Viettel Group, there were Lieutenant General Nguyen Thanh Nam, Deputy General Director of the Group, Major General Nguyen Manh Ho, CEO of Viettel Solutions Corporation (Viettel Solutions), and leaders of Viettel Da Nang.

Accordingly, the Da Nang IOC has officially gone into operation in a comprehensive model from the city to the district level, including the city-level IOC, 7 district-level OCs, and 2 specialized OCs (traffic and public security) in accordance with the urban government model, meeting the overall architecture of the smart city of Da Nang and the ICT reference framework for the development of smart cities of the Ministry of Information and Communications.

The city-level smart control center IOC is defined as the highest-level monitoring and control agency of the city, which is the main source of collecting information and data from district-level OCs, specialized OCs, and application systems and IoT sensors.

District-level and specialized OCs will operate in accordance with the geographical area of the district or according to the professional field. Conversely, these OCs are also delegated to receive information and data analyzed and shared by the city-level IOC for management purposes; public disclosure for citizens and businesses.

Da Nang plays a key role in the Central Highlands Economic Zone with a developed tourism industry. Da Nang City has focused on building data from the following systems: e-government applications; smart city management applications; and data from businesses and communities. From these data sources, the IOC was born to perform monitoring, analysis, early warning, and provision of smart city services.

In order to design and implement the IOC-OC model suitable for the local characteristics, Viettel Solutions and Da Nang City analyzed, set out problems, and jointly studied and built a solution covering 15 fields in 3 groups of solutions to serve citizens, the operation of government management, and the management of environmental and urban activities.

The Da Nang IOC is considered to be a comprehensive system with intelligent alerts, a full process alert handling process from the city management agency to each subordinate locality and the processing unit. The system integrates IoT technologies to serve real-time monitoring such as monitoring, wastewater, and data analysis tools to initially forecast and predict with a modern, user-friendly interface.

The IOC-OC model has the advantage of helping to monitor and control in a comprehensive and two-way manner from the city level to the district, commune, and ward levels. The operation of the IOC will help leaders at all levels to be able to monitor, manage, make decisions, and manage the quality of services provided by the city in a comprehensive manner, bringing efficiency, opportunities for the development of industries, sectors, and the economy. - society.

For citizens, in addition to indirectly enjoying the groups of smart city services provided by the city; also be able to directly use smart city services and utilities on the Danang Smart City application, promptly receive notifications when there are traffic jams, flooded areas, environmental quality, or when there are other natural disater emergency, etc. in order to contribute to the quality of citizens’ lives.

With the city's goal of "Policies, Architecture to Guide; Infrastructure, Data as the Foundation; Smart Applications Taking Citizens and Businesses as the Center for Performance Evaluation", with the experience of deploying IOCs for nearly 40 provinces/cities, Viettel Solutions commits to working with Da Nang City to continue to improve and add features to the IOC center, contributing to the effective operation of urban government, contributing to building a more friendly and intelligent Da Nang city

On July 20th, 2023, Viettel Group announced the successful testing of 5G Private Mobie Network - 5G PMN for the Pegatron factory in Hai Phong. This is the first smart factory in Vietnam operating on 5G mobile service with the advantage of high speed, low latency, wide bandwidth.

In the first phase of cooperation with Pegatron, Viettel provides a 5G private network for 5 applications and plans to provide a 5G private network for thousands of devices at the Hai Phong electronic component and equipment manufacturing plant by the end of 2023. These include applications of augmented reality technology for video calls on Public Cloud (public cloud computing); applications for production lines (Assembly Station); Product testing activity management; Monitoring and direct production processes...

Viettel 5G Private Mobile Network will help Pegatron reduce costs, increase productivity, and increase profits. At the same time, it can effectively control processes by collecting detailed information and data in real time, improving working conditions, and reducing accidents...

5G Private Mobile Network is a rapidly growing development trend in the world, especially effective for businesses with factories, warehouses, ports, airports, etc., which require secure and reliable connectivity that Wi-Fi cannot meet.

In Vietnam, the system of industrial parks, seaports, airports, and logistics centers is present in almost all provinces and cities in the economic zone. The application of 5G PMN is expected to strongly promote the development of the economy in general and the Production, Mining, and Logistics fields in particular.

The successful testing of the 5G private mobile network service for the Pegatron factory in Hai Phong confirms that Vietnam is keeping pace with the world in the latest technology trends.

Speech at the event, Mr. Dao Xuan Vu, Deputy General Director of Viettel Group, said: "Viettel pursues the philosophy that technology is born to solve social problems and improve the quality of life. Pioneering the deployment of technical trials and commercial trials of 5G in Vietnam, Viettel has now covered 5G in 58/63 provinces and cities. Viettel plays a leading role in building a secure, strong and reliable connectivity infrastructure that is the foundation for the development of a dynamic, competitive digital service ecosystem and the creation of a digital society."

On behalf of Pegatron, Mr. CY Feng, Department General Director of Pegatron, shared: "The application of 5G Private Mobile Network to production lines is a new trend in the world. Pegatron pioneer to introduce this technology to production lines in Vietnam with the desire to improve the performance of the factory, towards a modern and professional process. Viettel is a strategic partner of Pegatron, we trust in the technology that Viettel can meet for smart factories."

Speech at the event, Mr. Hoang Minh Cuong, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Hai Phong City, highly appreciated Viettel's efforts in applying technology to modernize cities: "The first smart factory in Vietnam applying 5G private network in Hai Phong City is a testament to Viettel's unremitting efforts to fulfill its commitment to accompany us in digital transformation, building a smart city, and promoting the modernization of the city. I believe that this success will promote the development of other areas with 5G technology, opening up a bright future for the economy of Hai Phong."

5G PMN is a private mobile network that provides mobile connectivity services for organizations and individuals who need to use specialized devices or machines that need real-time connectivity. This is a new trend in the world with a projected annual growth rate (CAGR) of 51.2% from 2023 to 2030. With the development of Industry 4.0, private 5G networks play an important role in promoting the development in many fields such as: Production, energy, oil and gas, transportation, mining, smart cities, etc.

On July 18th, 2023, Viettel Business Solutions Corporation (Viettel Solutions) - a member of Viettel Group (Viettel) has signed an agreement with Meta Platforms (Meta), to officially provide A2P messaging service for Meta in Vietnam.

The signing ceremony was attended by Mr Pham Trung Kien – Deputy General Director of Viettel Solutions and Mr. Karan Khara – Managing Director for Global Programs at Meta, along with leaders and representatives from both sides.

According to DataReportal, as of May 2023, Facebook has 2.99 billion users worldwide, remains the largest social network in Vietnam also among the top 10 countries with the highest number of Facebook users in the world (66.2 million users). Additionally, with 2 billion regular users, Instagram is currently the fourth largest social network in the world and is also gaining popularity in Vietnam. Viettel, as the Mobile operator with largest market share in Vietnam, has met Meta's criteria and has been selected as a long-term partner to provide A2P SMS service (Application to Person SMS), which relate to sending messages from applications to users and become a long-term partner providing this service for Meta.

Accordingly, on July 18th, 2023, Viettel Solutions and Meta has signed an agreement for direct connection of A2P SMS services with the aim of improving the interaction channel between users and Meta's social network platform. This direct connection enhances both the quality of service and security for messaging interactions between Meta's social network and Viettel subscribers in Vietnam. With this service, social network users will receive messages from Meta, such as OTP authentication codes in an official, fast, and accurate way with familiar brand names like Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, etc. This collaboration also allows both companies to leverage their human resources and technologies to enhance security methods beyond traditional communication methods.

Sharing at the signing ceremony, Mr. Pham Trung Kien, Deputy General Director of Viettel Solutions stated: "This agreement is evidence of our commitment to providing innovative, secure information technology and telecommunications solutions for customers. We believe that this cooperative relationship will be a good start to open up new opportunities for collaboration between both parties.”

Mr. Karan Khara, Managing Director for Global Programs at Meta shared: "Our vision is to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together which also aligns with the values of Viettel. Vietnam is and has always been a very important country for Meta. With a young population and a high adoption of smartphone usage, Vietnam is poised to take the digital economy lead in Southeast Asia. Therefore, I believe that this agreement with Viettel will bring innovation, commitments to the market, as well as many other partnerships in the future."

At the signing ceremony, representatives from Viettel Solutions also expressed their desire to expand the collaboration to 10 markets of Viettel in Asia, African, and Americas.

On July 12th, the conference to summarize the first 6 months of 2023 on national digital transformation and the Government's Program 06 was held at the headquarters of the Government Office and broadcast live to the following demand points: Headquarters of Ministries, Ministerial agencies, and Agencies under the Government; the headquarters of the People's Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities. The conference was chaired by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Chairman of the National Digital Transformation Committee.

Within the framework of the event, an exhibition of model applications developed in accordance with Program 06 is on display. As a unit with many years of experience in researching and implementing national digital transformation, the Military Industry and Telecoms Group (Viettel) brought to the exhibition a complete information technology (IT) infrastructure model for provinces and cities associated with the Government digital, digital transformation and smart cities. This product suite is a standard digital transformation model that localities can refer to for application in their area.

The next highlight is that the model is designed and clearly identified into many layers and many groups of common, typical solutions and applications that localities can refer to, select, and apply to their localities. Specifically, the layers of data collection, network connectivity, computing storage, data and service support, and application layer. Throughout, alongside are information security systems, maintenance operations, construction infrastructure, positioning and identification.

In addition, Viettel also brought nearly 30 models belonging to 5 groups of utilities according to Program 06: Group of utilities serving administrative procedures and online public services; Group of utilities for socio-economic development; Group of utilities serving the digital citizen; Group of utilities to enrich population data and Group of utilities for overall management and direction.

Specifically, in the group of utilities serving administrative procedures and online public services, Viettel participates in implementing 53 essential public services, implementing the application of automated central administrative centers and building public services without using paper documents, along with that is the use of electronic authentication connected to the population database in order to assist in reduce administrative procedures, provide public services more conveniently for citizens and businesses.

In the group of utilities for socio-economic development, Viettel is conducting research and applying QR codes on ID cards and VNeID in applications for medical care, payment with chip-embedded ID cards, and digital financial services. This helps to enhance security and convenience in daily transactions.

In the group of utilities serving the digital citizen, Viettel will deploy the integration of school management systems, online learning (K12Online), electronic health records, and social security program management systems on VNeID. This helps to improve the quality and convenience for citizens when using education, health care platforms and create favorable conditions for citizens to access social services.

In the group of utilities to enrich population data, Viettel builds solutions to unify national databases, integrate with the population database and VNeID, which helps to create an accurate, reliable and effective information system, thereby contributing to enriching the data on citizens.

In the group of utilities for overall management and direction, Viettel deploys the intelligent operation center IOC to help leaders at all levels make decisions based on data and figures in real time, reducing the time for statistics and reporting. The intelligent operation center plays the role of a brain that synthesizes, commands, and operates all activities of the city through data collection and standardization. At the same time, applying data analysis and processing platforms (VIettel DMP) to analyze, provide reports and alerts to support leaders in making decisions and commanding city activities.

With the message "Technology from the heart", Viettel commits to partnering with the government, businesses and localities, joining forces with Program 06 of the Ministry of Public Security, resolutely implementing and applying the most advanced and modern technologies owned by Vietnamese people to enrich the data on citizens, bringing efficiency to organizations, satisfaction to the people.

On July 3rd, a delegation of technology enterprises from the UK visited and worked with Viettel Enterprise Solutions Corporation (Viettel Solutions) - Member of the Military Industry and Telecommunications Group (Viettel). This visit takes place at the time of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the UK.

The meeting was attended by Ms. Philomena Chen, Head of Asia-Pacific Markets and Smart City Projects in Northern England, as well as representatives from several leading companies in the fields of logistics, healthcare, education, robotics, smart cities, etc.

Viettel Solutions was represented by Deputy General Director Nguyen Chi Thanh, along with leaders of units responsible for the development and marketing of digital products and solutions in various fields.

Viettel Solutions meets British tech companies

At the meeting, representatives from Viettel Solutions and British tech companies had the opportunity to introduce and discuss their strengths in the domestic and international markets where the two parties operate. The meeting opened up many potential areas of cooperation through sharing of business sectors and common interests.

The units particularly desired to discuss further about digital transformation solutions, to promote the role of technology in improving the efficiency of business operations, productivity in production and business, and improving the quality of life of people.

In particular, Viettel Solutions has experience and strength in the implementation of technology solutions in the fields of healthcare, the financial services industry, banking, manufacturing and manufacturing, etc. Viettel Solutions expressed its desire to be able to understand the needs of British companies, propose solutions and cooperation models between the two sides, and at the same time refer to the experience of service deployment in the UK from the business delegation.

Mr. Nguyen Chi Thanh, Deputy General Director of Viettel Solutions

The British companies also introduced impressive solutions for Satellite Communication, Electricity systems, and especially the National Health system solution operated and managed by the British Government system.

In addition, representatives of the British business delegation also expressed their interest and desire to learn more about solutions related to logistics, Viettel Cloud infrastructure, as well as the potential for cooperation in these areas.

Deputy General Director of Viettel Solutions emphasized: "In our strategy, we identify cooperation as a key role. Our strengths are our customer base and our ability to apply technology. In terms of products, we develop our own foundational products, and the rest we promote cooperation with partners, including domestic and international partners.

With the globalization strategy, the leadership of Viettel Group strongly supports cooperation with multinational corporations, in order to open up new spaces and opportunities for technology development, in business as well as bringing Vietnamese technology to the world stage.