The Government issued Decree on management, provision and use of radio and television services. This Decree prescribes in detail the management of information contents, quality, charge rates, provision and use of radio and television services in Vietnam; and reception and watching of foreign satellite television channels in Vietnam.
Radio and television services include:
+ Terrestrial television, which is a radio or television service using technical infrastructure for digital terrestrial television transmission and broadcast to provide radio or television channels to service users;
+ Cable television, which is a radio or television service using technical infrastructure for cable television transmission and broadcast and applying different technologies to provide radio or television channels to service users. Cable television includess analog cable television; digital cable television; and internet protocol cable television (IPTV);
+ Satellite television, which is a radio or television service using technical infrastructure for satellite television transmission and broadcast to provide radio or television channels to service users;
+ Mobile television, which is a radio or television service using technical infrastructure for transmission and broadcast of mobile terrestrial television, satellite mobile television and television via terrestrial mobile telecommunication network to provide radio or television channels to service users;
+ Internet radio or television, which is a radio or television service using internet connections through domain names of websites or identified internet addresses managed by Vietnam to transmit radio or television channels to service users.
Licensing of pay radio and television service provision conditions:
a/ Being a Vietnamese enterprise. For a foreign-invested enterprise, obtaining the Prime Minister’s in-principle approval;
b/ Having a service provision plan conformable with the master plans on radio and television service development and radio and television transmission and broadcast and other master plans in radio and television and e-information sectors;
c/ Having a license for telecommunications network establishment or an agreement on rent or use of a telecommunications network meeting technical requirements for service transmission to subscribers connected to that telecommunications network, for the services prescribed at Points a, b, c and d, Clause 1, Article 4 of this Decree; having a registration certificate of domain name “.vn” or identified internet address for service provision to subscribers, for the service prescribed at Point dd, Clause 1, Article 4 of this Decree;
d/ Having plans on human resources; investment in technical equipment; service market forecast and analysis; and business, service charge rates and investment and operation cost estimates for at least 2 (two) first years; and documents proving the charter capital or equivalent document meeting service provision requirements according to the cost estimates;
dd/ Having a plan on establishment of a center for transceiving all domestic and foreign channels at a single place, except channels on the list of local political and essential information channels, specifying technical designs of systems of signal processing devices; devices for connection to transmission networks, devices for management of services and subscribers and content protection;
e/ Having a plan on application of advanced technologies conformable with state-prescribed standards and technical regulations to guarantee service quality and information security and safety and prompt handle technical incidents to ensure uninterrupted services and interests of subscribers;
g/ Having a tentative list of domestic channels (other than those prescribed in Clause 4, Article 13 of this Decree), foreign channels, on-demand contents and value-added contents to be provided on pay radio or television services accompanied by content providers’ written approvals;
h/ Having a written agreement on channel signal reception points in accordance with Point c, Clause 1, Article 14 of this Decree.
 Dossier of application for a license: An application for a license for pay radio or television service provision, made according to the form provided by the Ministry of Information and Communications; A certified copy, or a copy enclosed with the original for comparison, of the most recently granted enterprise registration certificate or investment certificate (if any); A service provision plan specifying the type of service and scope of service provision, technical options for provision of online services and on-demand services (if any); tentative terms and provisions on rights and responsibilities of parties to the contract on service provision and use and the contents prescribed at Points b, d, dd, e, g and h, Clause 1 of this Article; A copy of the license for telecommunications network establishment or certified copy of the agreement on rent or use of the telecommunications network of the telecommunications network owner during the validity period of the license for telecommunications network establishment, for the services prescribed at Points a, b, c and d, Clause 1, Article 4 of this Decree; a copy of the registration certificate of domain name “.vn” or identified internet address, for the service prescribed at Point dd, Clause 1, Article 4 of this Decree;
A provider of the services prescribed at Points a, b, c and d, Clause 1, Article 4 of this Decree that does not have a telecommunications network must have a regulation on coordination with the telecommunications network owner or additional technical solutions for incident handling to ensure the quality and uninterruptedness of its services; A dossier of registration of a list of contents of pay radio or television services as prescribed in Clause 5, Article 21 of this Decree; A certified copy, or a copy enclosed with the original for comparison, of the written agreement on channel signal reception points prescribed at Point c, Clause 1, Article 14 of this Decree.
A dossier shall be made in 2 (two) sets (1 original and 1 copy) and submitted directly or by post to the Ministry of Information and Communications. The enterprise shall take responsibility for the accuracy and truthfulness of this dossier.
Within 30 (thirty) working days after receiving a valid dossier, the Ministry of Information and Communications shall consider and grant a license for pay radio or television service provision. In case of refusal, the Ministry of Information and Communications shall issue a written reply clearly stating the reason.