Vietnam should triple the number of international fiber optic cables it has from five to 15 by the year 2030.

A report at the website of Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) spells out ambitious plans for the future of the country’s optical fiber access. “The projected number of cables clearly defines the importance of Vietnam’s international fiber optic cable system as part of the digital infrastructure and something which must be prioritized in terms of investment, ensuring the country’s connection internationally,” the report said. It added that there must be enough capacity so some Vietnamese cities can become regional data centers.

The goal is to develop the international fiber optic cable system to build the international connectivity bridge for digital economic promotion, digital society, defense and security. State-owned enterprises have led the international foundation to date. By 2035, the goal is for the infrastructure to be equal to that of the leading groups in the region in terms of quantity, capacity and quality, becoming a super large cloud computing service provider, making Vietnam an important link in regional and international digital infrastructure and data transmission. It should have at least two more international land fiber optic cable lines by 2030. That capacity on land would represent at least 15% of the actual capacity of the marine system.

By 2027, Vietnam will open four new undersea fiber optic cable lines for public use, bringing the total capacity to at least 134 Tbps. At least one of those routes would be owned by the country of Vietnam. The country will maintain at least Singapore, Hong Kong (China) and Japan as the main digital hub connections, while periodically reviewing and evaluating digital hubs to add appropriate connection points.

For the period 2028-30, at least six new undersea fiber optic cable routes, including one route owned by Vietnam, will be put into use, increasing the total design capacity of marine fiber optic cables in Vietnam to a minimum of 350 Tbps. In addition to two land cable lines connecting to Hong Kong (China) and Singapore with a total capacity of 5 Tbps, Vietnam now has five international undersea fiber optic cable lines with total available capacity of 34 Tbps.