As of December 2024, the 4G mobile network coverage rate in Son La province reached 99.15% of the population, with the rate of households with smartphones exceeding 96%.
Promoting smart tourism
Recognizing that telecommunications infrastructure is the foundation for deploying information technology applications in tourism, the provinceSon Lahas focused on investing in remote areas. Telecommunications companies have deployed 4G mobile networks to all districts and communes in the province.
Specifically, up to now, 100% of communes have had a fixed broadband information network (also known as fiber optic network), 4G mobile network has been popularized to 98.5% of villages and hamlets and 99.15% of the population.
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Popularizing fiber optic internet and 4G mobile network contributes to improving the tourism experience in Son La. Photo: sonla.gov
With the popularization of the Internet and mobile waves to most areas, the experience of tourists traveling to Son La has been significantly improved.
For example, Son La Provincial Museum has launched an application to visit the special national relic Son La Prison using VR (virtual reality) technology, demonstrating the effectiveness of preserving and promoting the value of relics in the digital age.
Visitors can experience visiting the relic with 3D images of the space, architecture, and artifacts of the building, along with some videos recreating the activities of the former prison right on the museum's website.
Meanwhile, Moc Chau district has deployed the smart tourism application "Moc Chau Tour", digitizing services including: tourism of landmarks, indigenous culture, traditional products, cuisine and resorts.
In addition, the district has also put into use the 3D Smart Interactive Tourist Map; describing in detail the panorama of 14 attractive tourist destinations (including 11 locations in Moc Chau district, 3 locations in Van Ho district) with more than 75 3D images, integrating introductory information, allowing visitors to visit tourist areas, historical sites or tourist destinations in virtual reality.
Where electricity goes, telecommunications go
The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) sets a goal of having 100% of the population covered by 4G network by 2025 and 100% of the population covered by 5G by 2030.
To achieve the above goal, the Department of Information and Communications of Son La has developed a plan to develop broadband telecommunications infrastructure in the province, requesting telecommunications enterprises to invest in infrastructure to expand connections, eliminate "white signal" points, so that all people can enjoy telecommunications services, access digital transformation and enjoy the results of digital transformation.
"The Department of Information and Communications has directed telecommunications enterprises in the area to propose to the corporation to pay attention to and invest in coverage for villages without signal. At the same time, the Department has reported to the Ministry of Information and Communications a list of particularly difficult villages without mobile signal, to support telecommunications enterprises to invest in particularly difficult areas from the capital source of the Program for providing public telecommunications services,"Mr. Pham Quoc Chinh, Deputy Director of the Provincial Department of Information and Communications said.
Mr. Le Duy Duong, Director of Viettel Son La, said that by September 2024, this unit had covered 100% of communes and 95% of villages in the whole province and set a goal of building 300 more mobile station locations by the end of 2025.
Meanwhile, Mr. Le Minh Thang, Deputy Director of VNPT Son La, also affirmed that VNPT will cover 4G to 100% of communes and villages in the province by 2025.
According to representatives of telecommunications units, coverage of the depressions in Son La is facing many difficulties, because the villages and residential areas in these areas have sparse population density, scattered, and fragmented terrain...
Some villages do not have grid electricity, so using a generator when installing a broadcasting station will increase costs; many stations are located on public land, near residential areas, and processing related procedures can take months to a year.
The Vinh