2024 marked the 30th anniversary of the official presence of the national domain name ".vn", demonstrating national sovereignty in cyberspace. To date, the number of ".vn" domain names has reached about 630,000, ranking second in ASEAN, 10th in Asia-Pacific and 40th globally.
Larger, safer
Since officially connecting to the global internet in 1997, Vietnam's internet has continuously developed strongly in terms of infrastructure, speed, security and ability to meet user needs, becoming an essential factor integrated into all aspects of social life.
The internet is also an important infrastructure for digital transformation, promoting the country's process of industrialisation and modernisation.
Chairman of the Vietnam Internet Association Vu Hoang Lien said that the number of internet users in Vietnam is forecast to increase continuously from 2024 to 2029 and is estimated to reach more than 100 million users by 2029.
According to the report "Southeast Asia Digital Economy 2024" recently published by Google-Temasek, the estimated scale of Vietnam's internet economy is 36 billion USD in 2024, an increase of 16% compared to 2023.
Statistics from the i-Speed system built by the Vietnam Internet Center (VNNIC) show that Vietnam's internet speed is improving daily. In 2024, Vietnam's fixed broadband network will reach an average download speed of more than 93 Mbps, and the mobile broadband network will reach nearly 63 Mbps. In July 2024, the Ministry of Information and Communications began to announce internet access speeds by locality, and network operator to each district, county, commune, and ward on the i-Speed internet speed measurement system.
This activity aims to enhance publicity, transparency, and public benefits in providing internet services in Vietnam, creating conditions for people, organisations, and businesses to choose services and network operators according to their needs and actual conditions.
The announcement of data also supports improving the effectiveness of state management, sharing with management agencies under the Ministry of Information and Communications (formerly), and localities to proactively monitor and evaluate.
For telecommunications enterprises, data announced to the commune and ward level creates more competition, helping businesses optimise plans to improve service quality. An IP address is the network address for devices and servers, including IPv4 and IPv6 address generations. Currently, Vietnam has about 16.4 million IPv4 addresses, ranking second in ASEAN, eighth in Asia and 27th globally; there are nearly 33 thousand IPv6 addresses with a growth rate of 13.5%/year.
When starting to connect to the world's internet, Vietnam only had one network, but now it has grown to 1,148 networks with independent IP and ASN connected to each other. Registering to use independent IP addresses and ASNs helps Vietnamese organisations and enterprises develop multi-directional, independent connection networks, proactively connecting with many telecommunications service providers, connecting to the National Internet Exchange (VNIX), contributing to the development of Vietnam's internet "bigger, faster, safer, flatter".
The operation of internet resources and Vietnam's internet network is also ensured to be safe and reliable through promoting the use of authentication technologies (RKPI, DNSSEC). Vietnam is currently among the world's leading countries in deploying IPv6 address generation, applying routing authentication technology, and ensuring security from the root of network operations and internet services.
Building an online presence
On April 14, 1994, the domain name “.vn” was officially used, marking Vietnam's brand and sovereignty on the world internet map. After 30 years of development, the national domain name “.vn” not only represents the national identity in cyberspace but also serves as a bridge between businesses and customers, between the government and the people, thereby expanding opportunities and enhancing interactions in all areas of social life. Currently, we have about 630,000 “.vn” domain names.
The development of the digital economy and society cannot be separated from online presence. Accordingly, to be present on the internet, individuals, organisations or businesses need a website and domain name. In developed countries, most businesses, even micro-enterprises, have an internet presence with websites using national domain names (on average in Europe, this rate is 75%, and in Germany, it is up to 95%). However, the rate of Vietnamese enterprises with websites using national domain names is still very low, only reaching about 25%.
According to experts, the national domain name “.vn” associated with websites is a means and key factor for enterprises to build an online presence at a reasonable cost, improving the ability to reach domestic and foreign customers.
The domain name “.vn” brings trust to users, especially for e-commerce transactions, which are managed and protected by Vietnamese law.
Online information will become more reliable and secure when using digital services associated with the national domain name “.vn”, with the registrant’s identity clearly and transparently identified. The domain name “.vn” also contributes to building the national brand in the global market.
The smart era with the development and widespread application of new technologies (IPv6, 5G/6G, AI, cloud, Blockchain, ...) has led to an explosion of connected devices, transmitting high-speed data anytime, anywhere in production, life, work, and entertainment activities.
VNNIC Director Nguyen Hong Thang said that internet resources, infrastructure and important core systems of Vietnam's internet need to develop, change appropriately, and form the original foundation to meet the strong explosion of new internet technologies and services.
To be ready for the Vietnamese internet’s safe and sustainable future, organisations and businesses need to quickly grasp new technologies of the future and explore new service markets with a lot of potential.
