The new Law on Telecommunications which is approved by the National Assembly of Vietnam on 24 November 2023 adds three types of new non-traditional telecommunications services to its scope of regulation, i.e. data center services, cloud computing services and basic telecommunications services on the internet, also known as over-the-top (OTT) services. The old Law on Telecommunications has no regulations on the foregoing services.
The newly added non-traditional telecommunications services are not subject to any foreign ownership restrictions under the new Law on Telecommunications. Foreign investors are allowed to set up 100% foreign owned entities to provide data center services, cloud computing services and OTT services in Vietnam.
The definition of the three newly introduced categories of telecommunications services under the new Law on Telecommunications are as follows:
Basic Telecommunications Services on the Internet (OTT services): services of sending, transmitting, and receiving information between two or more telecommunications services users on the Internet and between terminals via telecommunications networks.
Data Center Service: services that provides information processing, storage, and retrieval features to users via telecommunications networks by leasing part or the whole of the data center.
Cloud Computing Services: services that provides information processing, storage, and retrieval features for users via telecommunications networks through cloud computing.
The new Law on Telecommunications will come into effect on 1 July 2024. However, the relevant regulations on data center services, cloud computing services and OTT services shall take effect from 1 January 2025.
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