Many products manufactured in and imported into Vietnam now integrate Wi-Fi transceivers, particularly Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 which use the 6 GHz band. At the same time, Circular No. 08/2021/TT-BTTTT of 14 October 2021 only lists radio equipment exempt from radio frequency use licensing together with the accompanying technical and operating conditions, and it permits Wi-Fi use only in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands.

For these products currently used in Vietnam, users must commit to disabling the function that supports the 6 GHz band and not to activate or use that band, unless the manufacturer produces a version with the function enabled. This rule reflects reality but to some extent limits device functionality and user experience.

Regulating the frequencies used by Wi-Fi

On this basis the Ministry of Information and Communications considers it necessary to complete regulation of the frequencies used by Wi-Fi as soon as possible, in order to meet growing demand from people and businesses for such devices.

The first step considered is adding 500 MHz for Wi-Fi in the 5925-6425 MHz band:

1. Adding 500 MHz in the 6 GHz band still allows simultaneous use of Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7, with maximum channels of 160 MHz or 320 MHz.
2. This follows the general global trend and international forecasts of demand.
3. International studies show that sharing the band with fixed and fixed satellite services is feasible when e.i.r.p. power limits are applied, for Wi-Fi devices in the 5925-6425 MHz band both indoors and outdoors.

Requirements of Appendix 10

Appendix 10 of Circular No. 08/2021/TT-BTTTT of 14 October 2021, which lists radio equipment exempt from licensing together with the radio frequency use, technical and operating conditions, is amended and supplemented as follows.