Dang Tung Son, CMC Telecom’s Deputy CEO  (Photo credit: CMC)

A digital hub is defined as a place to store and process the big data of the world's leading technology companies, and allow data to be transferred through and provide service inside and outside the region. A digital hub does not just process local data, but is part of a regional tech ecosystem.

Vietnam has a great opportunity to become the connection and data storage point of ASEAN and the Asia-Pacific region.

This will bring big changes to institutions and policies, motivating domestic digital technology investors, said Dang Tung Son, CMC Telecom’s Deputy CEO.

“We are experiencing a huge change, illustrated by Vietnam’s adoption of the Information and Communication Infrastructure Orientation until 2025 with a Vision to 2030,” said Mr. Son, adding, “We’ve clearly defined the steps leading from traditional postal infrastructure to express delivery and e-commerce infrastructure, from telecommunications infrastructure to digital infrastructure, and from IT infrastructure to digital transformation infrastructure.”

He noted, “In the latest statement about AWS Local Zones made by Amazon Web Services Inc., Vietnam is on a list of 22 countries. This reflects a big change in Vietnam’s position.”

Thanks to the Government’s strategic direction, CMC Telecom is the only telecommunications infrastructure provider in Vietnam to have a foreign shareholder that is helping it expand its infrastructure network across the region.

CMC Telecom’s CVCS (Cross Vietnam Cable System) backbone is the first Vietnam cable system to connect throughout Southeast Asia, directly connecting to A-Grid telecommunications infrastructure and five international submarine cable systems: AAE1, APG, A-Grid, Unity, and Faster.

CMC Telecom is one of the first three service providers in the world to have achieved Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) 3.0 certification, which represents CMC Telecom’s ability to deliver standards-based local, national, and global Ethernet services.

CMC Telecom owns three neutral Data Centers as Tier III standard. These are the first Data Centers in Vietnam to have the PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) certificate. It is mandatory for enterprises which store and process payment cards. The centers are operated by professionally trained experts and technicians with international certificates including CDCE, CDCS, CDCP, and CDFOM.

In April, CMC Telecom officially opened the Tan Thuan Data Center Ho Chi Minh City, achieving the UPTIME TIER 3 certificate (Design & Build Level), covering 10,000 m2, and having a scale of 1,200 racks.

Tan Thuan Data Center’s rack capacity is designed to be up to 20KW/Rack to meet the high demands of OTT and Cloud customers.

In May, the Uptime Institute declared that Tan Thuan Data Center has successfully obtained the first TCCF (Tier Certification of Constructed Facility) certificate with the highest number of tests in Vietnam to date, becoming the safest and most modern Data Center in Vietnam.

CMC Cyber Security team of  security experts (Photo credit: CMC)

Mr. Son said CMC Telecom will continue to change its mindset from a domestic company to a global business, build a personnel team meeting its core values, and standardize products and services towards international levels.

“Investing in a Digital Hub requires a roadmap. We have a Data Center roadmap between now and 2025 to build 40 Megawatt Data Centers, and these centers must meet international standards of information security, and must be open and neutral to create diverse options for customers. That is the direction we’ve pursued for many years,” said Mr. Son.

Digital infrastructure is a prerequisite for Vietnam to catch up with the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

According to Phan Tam, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications, “Created by Vietnam, designed by Vietnam, and produced by Vietnam” is a slogan with which the Vietnamese government aims to mobilize internal resources and aspirations.

Mr. Tam insists that the development of "Make in Vietnam" products like what CMC Telecom has done demonstrates Vietnam's determination to gain technology independence.

He said, “Developing ‘Make in Vietnam’ digital technology products is a way for Vietnamese digital firms to master both technology and products and be on a par with world powers in research, development, and application of new digital technology toward making Vietnam a technologically independent and self-reliant nation. This is also the key to Vietnam moving up the value chain and catching up with developed countries.”

Since its establishment in 2008, CMC Telecom has worked to become a global service provider with the further goal of making Vietnam an Asian connectivity hub.

CMC Telecom’s strategy is to cooperate with leading tech companies to make Vietnam a regional digital hub on the level of Hong Kong (China) and Singapore.