Business

All Business News

Vietnam plans AI deal with Korea’s KT and fibre link with Singapore

Vietnam plans AI deal with Korea’s KT and fibre link with Singapore

A busy week for telecommunications news in Vietnam has seen yet another agreement between a state-owned Vietnamese business and a major Korean company, along with the launch of a terrestrial fibre optic cable directly connecting Vietnam to Singapore.

Vietnam’s state-owned ICT conglomerate Viettel Group and KT Corporation, a South Korean telecommunications company, mobile network operator and mobile virtual network operator, have announced what they call Strategic Partnership 2.0, signed before the recent Korea-Vietnam Business Forum.

This collaboration, the partners say, marks a significant step forward in joint efforts to establish national AI strategies and promote autonomous transformation (AX) across various industries.

It’s not entirely clear what AX involves in this context, but one definition appears to be the shift from primarily human-driven or digitally driven processes to systems and processes that can operate and make decisions with a high degree of independence, often leveraging technologies like AI and automation.

In this case, building on an initial partnership formed in May, KT and Viettel will focus on four key areas: establishing a national AI strategy and developing industry-specific AX platforms; expanding AX projects across Southeast Asia; strengthening AI-based cybersecurity; and cultivating AX talent.

Part of this effort will be the co-development of a national general-purpose AI language model tailored to Vietnam’s language, culture and administrative environment, aiming to support digital sovereignty in education, public administration and public services.

Additionally, the partners plan to create so-called vertical AX platforms, delivering customised AI solutions to industry-specific needs.

To aid this effort, Viettel will share its global partner network to broaden collaboration throughout Southeast Asia, and both firms will work to expand technological cooperation with major tech companies and exchange information.

To foster AI talent, KT and Viettel also plan a Global AX Innovation Centre (G-AXC), which will develop AI language model expertise, industrial pilot specialists, and practical training and certification programmes to help Vietnamese citizens integrate AI into daily life.

The partners will also jointly research solutions to combat AI-driven phishing and deepfake crimes, sharing expertise and technologies to create a safer AX environment.

Another state-owned Vietnamese company, Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), was also in the news in recent days after it officially launched the country’s first terrestrial fibre optic cable directly connecting Vietnam to Singapore earlier this week.

The VSTN cable, stretching roughly 3,900 kilometres, runs entirely on land through Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. It links VNPT’s technical hub in Da Nang to leading regional data centres in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

The VSTN line is claimed to be the first entirely land-based international cable system built and operated by a Vietnamese enterprise.

The new route uses advanced transmission technology and wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) equipment, enabling high-capacity, secure and rapid data transfer. It also gives VNPT complete operational control from origin to endpoint, allowing for faster recovery in case of disruptions.

VNPT currently operates four major international submarine cable systems and owns and operate two telecommunications satellites.



More Articles you may be Interested in...