As outlined in the 2025 Activity Plan, the APNIC Blog will feature an ongoing series of posts highlighting economies across the Asia Pacific region. These articles, available via the ‘Economy Report‘ tag, will explore each economy’s Internet infrastructure, along with its challenges and achievements in capacity development, security, resilience, and community building.
As we count down to APNIC 60 in Da Nang, Viet Nam, we take a closer look at the Internet operations of the host economy. As the world’s 12th largest population of Internet users, Viet Nam’s impressive digital growth highlights the success of long-term, coordinated national planning to modernize Internet infrastructure and makes it a compelling example of how infrastructure investment, policy, and technical collaboration are shaping the Internet in the Asia Pacific.
Viet Nam is pursuing an ambitious digital transformation agenda through its National Digital Transformation Program to 2025, with a vision to 2030. The program aims to build a digital government, digital economy, and digital society while encouraging Vietnamese digital technology enterprises with the ability to go global.
By 2030, Viet Nam intends to grow its digital economy to contribute 30% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), achieve universal broadband and nationwide 5G coverage, and modernize governance through e-services, national databases, and secure digital identity. Complementary strategies in data, infrastructure, AI, and cybersecurity further support this vision of a resilient, inclusive, and innovation-driven digital economy.
Internet community
The Viet Nam Internet Network Information Center (VNNIC), established in 2000 and celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, serves as the National Internet Registry (NIR). VNNIC manages IP addresses, Autonomous System Numbers (ASNs), and domain names, while also driving initiatives on IPv6, RPKI, and DNSSEC. Beyond infrastructure, VNNIC conducts capacity building through workshops, university programs, and startup guidance, helping strengthen digital trust and technical skills across the economy.
VNNIC also plays an active role in global and regional forums, including APNIC, ICANN, ITU, and others. Its annual VNNIC Internet Conference and VNIX-NOG (established in 2016) provide neutral platforms for technical exchange and collaboration within Viet Nam’s Internet community.
Aside from the forthcoming APNIC 60 conference, Viet Nam has also hosted significant regional Internet events, including APRICOT 2017, the APAC DNS Forum 2025, and APNIC Foundation’s Switch! initiative, providing valuable opportunities for collaboration and knowledge sharing.
Internet governance
VNNIC develops the next generation of Internet leaders through its Youth Internet Governance Workshops, held at the annual VNNIC Internet Conference. Created in partnership with APNIC, the workshops give young participants a deep understanding of Internet governance, build technical skills, and encourage diverse participation —preparing them to contribute at national, regional, and global forums.
VNNIC also engages in regional and global governance events, ensuring Viet Nam’s voice is part of the wider Internet community. Supporting this effort, YIGF Vietnam, launched in 2019 with SecDev Foundation and Vietnet-ICT, offers a local platform to engage the next generation of Internet stakeholders among Vietnamese youth.
Policy development
As a government entity, VNNIC aligns its activities with national policy directions. VNNIC participates in the APNIC Policy Development Process (PDP) as a community member and NIR. Like other NIRs in the region, VNNIC’s involvement provides an opportunity to share perspectives and help shape policies for Internet number resources across the Asia Pacific region.
The first time Viet Nam and VNNIC hosted an APNIC event was in 2005. The APNIC 20 meeting focused on and approved several significant policies, including the abolition of IPv6 per-address fees for NIRs, the adoption of the global policy for allocation of IPv6 blocks to RIRs by IANA (still in practice today), and the use of the HD-Ratio to calculate subsequent IPv6 allocations (also still in use).
Connectivity: Access and usage
As of 2023, ITU DataHub reported that 78.1% of Viet Nam’s population of about 77.9 million people were Internet users, leaving around 23 million people still offline. The digital divide between urban and rural areas remains, but is narrowing. Internet use among urban residents rose to 84.7% in 2023 (from 81.9% in 2020), while rural usage increased significantly to 74% (from 63.5%). This reflects steady progress in rural connectivity driven by mobile expansion, infrastructure investments, and government-led digital inclusion programs.
Affordability remains below the Asia Pacific region’s average of 1.25. A low-consumption mobile broadband package in Viet Nam costs around 1.15% of Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, placing pressure on low-income households. Ensuring equitable, resilient, and affordable access — particularly to close the urban-rural divide — remains central to Viet Nam’s capacity development.
Connectivity: Technology and coverage
Viet Nam is a mobile-first market, with 98% of the population covered by 4G networks. While 5G coverage remains at about 10%, rollouts are underway. Connection quality continues to improve, with fixed-broadband download speeds averaging 105.51 Mbps and mobile speeds averaging 47.03 Mbps in 2023, supporting data-intensive applications in urban centres.
Satellite connectivity plays a key role in bridging access gaps. VNPT’s Vinasat-1 (launched 2008) and Vinasat-2 (launched 2012) provide coverage for remote, maritime, and mountainous regions, supporting schools, offshore operations, border security, and disaster response. In March 2025, the government approved a five-year pilot program for SpaceX’s Starlink, expected to begin service in late 2025, to further extend coverage to underserved rural and offshore populations.
Internet Exchange Points (IXPs)
The Viet Nam National Internet Exchange (VNIX), operated by VNNIC, is the economy’s primary IXP. Established in Hanoi in 2003, VNIX now operates three major peering points in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City (2004), and Da Nang (2012).
Earlier this year, BBIX and CMC Telecom announced a partnership to establish two new IXPs in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Despite this, domestic peering remains low, with only 0.80% of local networks connected at VNIX. Two of the top three ISPs (Viettel and VNPT) do not currently peer at the exchange.
In 2021, an M-root server was deployed at VNIX–Hanoi through a collaboration between APNIC, the APNIC Foundation, the WIDE Project, and Japan Registry Services. Viet Nam now hosts eight root server instances: Two F-roots each in Da Nang, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City, one K-root in Hanoi, and the M-root in Hanoi.
Data centres and CDNs
Viet Nam’s Internet infrastructure is evolving rapidly, with strong growth in data centres and Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) driven by demand for streaming and cloud services. Major players include Viettel, VNPT, FPT Telecom, CMC Telecom, and VNZ (VNG Corp), which operate Tier III data centres in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang. Global CDNs such as Akamai, Cloudflare, and Meta have also established local presence, and 54% of the top 1,000 websites in Viet Nam are served locally.
The National Data Strategy aims to move all administrative services online by 2030, integrate national and regional data centres, and build unified national databases, while the Digital Infrastructure Strategy further sets goals to expand data centre capacity and cloud adoption nationwide.
Submarine cables
Viet Nam is currently connected to the global Internet through five submarine cable systems: Asia Africa Europe-1 (AAE-1), Asia Pacific Gateway (APG), Asia-America Gateway (AAG) Cable System, Tata TGN-Intra Asia (TGN-IA) and Asia Direct Cable (ADC).
The most recent, ADC, went live in April 2025, spanning 9,800km and offering 50Tbps, surpassing Viet Nam’s prior total capacity. However, Viet Nam’s cable count remains low compared to neighbours such as Indonesia (58), Malaysia (23), leaving it vulnerable to single-route disruptions. On average, the economy experiences about 15 cable faults annually, often taking months to repair.
Under its international cable development strategy, Viet Nam plans to expand to at least 15 submarine systems by 2030. Upcoming systems include SJC2 (Southeast Asia–Japan Cable 2), Asia Link Cable (ALC) expected in 2026, and the Vietnam–Singapore Cable System (VTS) expected in 2027.
IPv6 and routing security
IPv6 deployment
Viet Nam has achieved 61.7% IPv6 capability as of 22 August 2025 (Figure 2), ranking second in South East Asia (after Malaysia) and tenth globally according to APNIC Labs.
Viet Nam’s shift to IPv6 has been as much about people and operations as it has been about technology. The first National IPv6 Action Plan (2011–2019) gave engineers across the economy the training and confidence to begin large-scale deployments, lifting adoption above 34%. The current IPv6 for Government program is helping ministries and agencies modernize their networks, ensuring public services can operate securely and at scale in the years ahead. For the major ISPs — VNPT, Viettel, and FPT — moving more than half of their traffic to IPv6 has meant smoother mobile experiences and fewer network bottlenecks for millions of subscribers.
Looking forward, VNNIC’s roadmap to an IPv6-only Internet by 2032 provides operators with clear milestones to plan upgrades and gradually phase out IPv4. Along the way, the technical community has also benefitted from training and workshops that build local expertise and align with international best practice.
RPKI
Viet Nam has strong Route Origin Authorization (ROA) coverage, with 96% of IPv4 routes valid (Figure 3). However, IPv6 ROA coverage lags at about 64% (Figure 4), and ROV adoption remains very low at 0.25% (Figure 5). Key challenges include operational hesitancy around enforcing ROV, the complexity of updating routing policies, and the need for stronger industry consensus. APNIC and VNNIC continue to collaborate on promoting RPKI best practices.
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is a major priority for Viet Nam amid rising threats. In September 2024, 6 August was designated Viet Nam Cybersecurity Day by Prime Ministerial decree, with the first event held on 5 August 2025, led by the Ministry of Public Security.
The Viet Nam Cybersecurity Emergency Response Teams/Coordinating Center (VNCERT/CC), an active member of both APCERT and FIRST, was transferred to the Ministry of Public Security in July 2025.
Viet Nam also hosts several major cybersecurity events:
- Vietnam Security Summit — bringing together government, industry, and academia.
- CyberSecVN Conference — focused on technical trends and professional development.
- Security Bootcamp — a community-led, hands-on event for developing local talent.
The road ahead
Viet Nam’s Internet ecosystem is well-positioned for continued growth. The economy’s strong national strategies, infrastructure investment, and active community engagement provide a solid foundation for its digital future.
Viet Nam’s next phase of Internet growth will be shaped by operational and technical priorities. Scaling RPKI deployment across all major providers will be key to improving routing security and reducing the risk of route leaks or hijacks.
Looking further ahead, Viet Nam’s focus on an IPv6‑only environment by 2032 will require careful coordination across ISPs, enterprises, and government networks, with operational testing and phased cutovers to minimize disruption. These steps will define how Viet Nam builds a more resilient, secure, and scalable Internet in the years to come.
APNIC 60
As the regional Internet community prepares to gather for APNIC 60, we look forward to delegates from Viet Nam sharing more highlights of the value of collaboration, innovation, and resilience in building the Internet of the future.
Pham Duc Long, the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Deputy Minister and VNNIC Director General Nguyen Hong Thang will open the conference ahead of keynote speaker Vu The Binh, who will discuss the push towards modernizing Viet Nam’s Internet with cloud computing, data centres, CDNs and IPv6-only.
Throughout the conference, Nguyen Xuan Truong and Nguyen Minh Hai will share Viet Nam’s progress on IPv6 and RPKI deployment, Thang Phan will walk us through an open source tool to configure multiple switches, and Oanh Nguyen will contribute to policy discussions at the joint SIG session and, of course, Chair the NIR SIG.
Plan your conference now to see how Viet Nam is taking an active role in shaping the region’s Internet future.
The views expressed by the authors of this blog are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of APNIC. Please note a Code of Conduct applies to this blog.