A shopper inspects a smartphone on display at a mall in Ho Chi Minh City. (Photo: Shutterstock)

There are 24 million 2G subscribers in the country, or 18.5 percent of total. Closing 2G will leave more bandwidth for 3G, 4G and the upcoming 5G network and help accelerate the establishment of a digital economy, the Ministry of Information and Communications said.

It is working to boost the sales of low-cost smartphones so more people will be familiar with 3G and higher networks, it added.

The Ministry’s telecommunications department plans to lower the rates of regular phone calls, which will reduce their revenues to telecom operators and urge them to rely more on data calls.

It also plans to require all smartphones produced or imported into Vietnam to support 3G network or higher.