On January 10, 2023, the Ministry of Communications of Vietnam launched a public consultation on the draft notice of the "National Technical Specifications (Standards) for Land Mobile User Equipment - Radio Access (2G/3G/4G LTE Terminals)". The standard number is QCVN 117:2023/BTTTT, which is applicable to GSM, W-CDMA, and e-UTRA mobile devices. The effective date of the standard is expected to be March 1, 2024, and the enforcement date is July 1, 2024.

The main changes compared to QCVN 117:2020/BTTTT are as follows:

• New LTE bands: 2300-2400 MHz (B40), 2500-2690 MHz (B41), 703 MHz – 733 MHz / 758 MHz – 788 MHz (B28);
• The handset must be able to operate on one of the LTE/4G bands specified in the standard;
• For non-mobile phone terminals, it is not mandatory to support 4G/LTE technology.

The international equivalents to this standard are ETSI EN 301 908-13 V13.2.1 and ETSI EN 301 908-1 V15.1.1.

Click this link to view the full text of the draft standard, click this link to view the original public consultation, which is open until 10 March 2023.

On November 27, 2023, the Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) of Vietnam issued a draft circular on the revision of 04/2023/TT-BTTTT, the main changes are as follows:

• New and updated standards:
  • QCVN 117:2023/BTTTT, which replaces QCVN 117:2020/BTTTT for WWAN devices
  • QCVN 55:2023/BTTTT, which replaces QCVN 55:2011/BTTTT for SRD
  • QCVN 132:2022/BTTTT on the security of tablets, laptops, desktop computers, TVs, set-top boxes, DECT phones;
  • QCVN 110:2023/BTTTT, which replaces QCVN 110:2017/BTTTT for E-UTRA base stations
  • QCVN 111:2023/BTTTT, which replaces QCVN 110:2017/BTTTT for E-UTRA repeaters
• Reinstatement of extreme test condition requirements for some of the QCVN standards that were suspended in accordance with Notice No. 10/2023/TT-BTTTT;
• QCVN 124:2021/BTTTT will not apply to automotive radars, and QCVN 18:2022/BTTTT will apply to automotive radars;
• Wireless chargers with HS codes 8504.40.19 and 8504.40.90 will no longer need to meet QCVN 55 and will instead be based on QCVN 96:2015/BTTTT;
• QCVN 47:2015/BTTTT will replace a large number of QCVN standards for maritime products that cannot be tested locally
• TVs using the same chassis can share test reports for the SDoC process for QCVN 63:2020/BTTTT;
• QCVN 128:2021/BTTTT for 5G NR base stations does not require testing under performance requirements and extreme conditions.

The draft circular is expected to take effect on 1 April 2024. Click link to view the original announcement.

On November 27, 2023, the Ministry of Communications and Media (MIC) of Vietnam issued Circular No. 17/2023/TT-BTTTT to release a new standard QCVN 55:2023/BTTTT for short-range devices (SRDs) in the frequency range from 9kHz to 25MHz and inductive loop systems in the frequency range from 9kHz to 30MHz. The new standard will come into force on July 1, 2024.

This regulation applies to the following types of short-range radio equipment (SRDs):

a) Universal short-range radio equipment operating in the frequency range of 9 kHz to 25 MHz;

b) Magnetic field devices operating in the frequency range from 9 kHz to 30 MHz, including: radio frequency identification devices (RFID), devices using Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, and electronic security system (EAS) devices operating in the LF and HF bands in the operating environment.

This regulation applies to products and goods with short-range radio equipment with HS codes as specified in Annex J of the standard.

All short-range radio equipment specified in this regulation must comply with Vietnam's regulations on frequency planning and channel allocation.

The above types of radio equipment operate in the 9 kHz to 30 MHz band under the following conditions:

• There is a radio output connection with a stand-alone antenna or an integrated antenna,
• all types of modulation are used,
• and fixed, mobile, and handheld devices are used.

Click this link to view the original text of Notice No. 17/2023/TT-BTTTT and the original text of QCVN 55:2023/BTTTT standard.