Profile
Vietnamese
Foreign investors trading in telecommunications services
Vietnam has strict conditions for foreign investors doing business in telecommunications services. Although the telecommunications service business is an industry that brings great profits and Vietnam is a potential country in developing this service industry, foreign investors who want to invest in Vietnam still have to strictly comply with the conditions and regulations that Vietnam requires.
Conditions for foreign investors to operate telecommunications services
Telecommunications service business is an investor’s activity to invest in public telecommunications infrastructure and telecommunications services to generate profits. Telecommunications services provide sending, transmitting, receiving and processing information services between groups of telecommunications service users, including telecommunications services and value-added telecommunications services.
This profession is closely related to national security because it directly affects the handling of domestic information sources. Therefore, when foreign investors do business in telecommunications services, they must meet the following conditions:
According to the WTO Commitment Schedule, FTAs and AFAS have specific conditions stipulated
✔️Scope of application:
Telex service;
Voice services;
Facsimile service;
Telegraph service;
Internet connection service;
Private channel rental service;
Video conferencing service;
Packet switching data transmission service;
Channel switching data transmission service;
Video signal transmission services excluding broadcast transmission;
Wireless information services, including Mobile voice services (including terrestrial mobile and satellite); Mobile data services (including terrestrial mobile and satellite); Messaging services; PCS service; Wireless trunking service.
✔️Rate of charter capital ownership of foreign investors in economic organizations:
Services with network infrastructure: not exceeding 49%;
Service without network infrastructure: does not exceed 65%.
Type of enterprise investing in Vietnam: Investment in the form of joint venture
✔️Vietnamese partners participating in investment: licensed telecommunications service providers in Vietnam for economic organizations providing services with network infrastructure.
✔️Other conditions: 51% is to have control in the management of economic organizations providing services with network infrastructure. In the telecommunications industry, foreign investors participating in business cooperation contracts will be able to sign a new agreement or switch to another form of presence with conditions no less favorable than those they are currently receiving.
Regulations on telecommunications service business conditions for foreign investors according to Vietnamese law
✔️Foreign investors are allowed to invest in the form of joint ventures or business cooperation contracts to provide basic telecommunications services.
✔️An organization or individual that owns more than 20% of charter capital or shares in a telecommunications enterprise is not allowed to own more than 20% of charter capital or shares of another telecommunications enterprise doing business in the same market belongs to the List of telecommunications services prescribed by the Ministry of Information and Communications.
✔️Have a Business Registration Certificate or a Telecommunications Service Investment Business Registration Certificate;
✔️Have sufficient financial capacity, organizational structure and human resources appropriate to the scale of the telecommunications service investment project;
✔️Have a feasible technical plan and business plan consistent with the national telecommunications development strategy and planning, regulations on telecommunications resources, connections, tariffs, standards and technical regulations, network quality, and telecommunications services;
✔️Have measures to ensure the safety of telecommunications infrastructure and information security.
✔️Foreign investors need to apply for a sublicense to establish a public telecommunications network and must meet the following conditions:
- Be eligible for a telecommunications service business license;
- Legal capital and investment commitment level according to Government regulations (Article 19 to Article 21 of Decree 25/2011/ND-CP dated April 6, 2011).
Procedures for foreign investors in a telecommunications services business
Step 1: Apply for a Certificate of investment registration for telecommunication services business with foreign capital
Step 2: Establish a business & apply for a telecommunications service business license
Step 3: The enterprise announces the content of the telecommunications service business license
Step 1: Apply for a Certificate of investment registration for telecommunication services business with foreign capital
✅A written request to implement a foreign-invested telecommunications service investment and business project;
✅Copy of ID card or passport for individual investors and documents confirming legal status for institutional investors;
✅Investment project proposal documents include detailed project content;
✅Copies of documents on the investor’s financial issues;
✅Documents on land use needs, location rental agreements, or right-to-use location to carry out investment projects.
Applicant Agency: Department of Planning and Investment
Processing time: For investment projects not subject to investment policy decision: 15 – 20 working days from the date of receiving complete documents.
Step 2: Establish a business and apply for a Business License
Investor profile requesting a telecommunications service business license
Foreign investors must submit 05 (five) sets of documents to specialized telecommunications management agencies. The license application file includes the following specific documents:
✅A certified copy of the company’s rules;
✅Business plan for the first 5 years from the date of license issuance;
✅Application for a license according to the form issued by the Ministry of Information and Communications;
✅Technical plan corresponding to business plan for the first five years from the date of license issuance;
✅ Draft a sample contract to provide telecommunications services for specific services that the business intends to provide;
✅A certified copy of the Business Registration Certificate or Investment Registration Certificate of the foreign investor.
Applicant agency: Telecommunications Agency under the Ministry of Information and Communications
Time: Within 05 working days from the date of receiving the dossier, the Telecommunications Agency will review and notify the enterprise. Within 45 working days, the Telecommunications Agency coordinates with relevant agencies to appraise the dossier and issue a license or submit it to the Minister of Information and Communications to grant a license to foreign investors.
Step 3: Announce the content of the Telecommunications Service Business License
Within 30 working days from the date of issuance of the telecommunications service business license, the enterprise must publish in one of the written or electronic newspapers for three consecutive articles the main contents of the Telecommunications services business license include the following main specific contents:
- License number, license issuance date, license expiration date;
- Type of telecommunications network, scope of telecommunications network establishment (if any);
- Scope of service business and types of services permitted to be traded (if any);
- Terms and conditions that businesses must comply with when establishing telecommunications networks and providing telecommunications services;
- Business name, business transaction name in Vietnamese and foreign languages (if any); Head office location, branch location, representative office location in Vietnam.
Siglaw is always ready to give advice and support customers with necessary information while carrying out procedures to change the investor’s address. Please contact Siglaw law firm for specific advice
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