According to the Ha Long Bay - Yen Tu World Heritage Management Board, the unit in coordination with Viettel Quang Ninh has just put 2 BTS broadcasting stations into operation in the Cong Do area and Vung Vieng fishing village. These are 2 of the areas with bustling tourism activities in Ha Long Bay, but the phone signal is "sunk".
These broadcasting stations use 2G, 4G technology, with broadcasting power ensuring coverage with a distance of 10 km to 15 km.
According to Mr. Dinh Si Nguyen - Deputy Head of the Ha Long Bay - Yen Tu World Heritage Management Board, the unit is continuing to coordinate with Viettel Quang Ninh to deploy Starlink technology application in 10 other areas in Ha Long Bay.
These are areas with terrain where it is difficult to deploy regular broadcasting services, so satellite waves are required.
Currently, Viettel Quang Ninh after surveying has planned some points as follows: Northeast of Vung Vieng fishing village; Hon Ran - East of Cong Do island; Ba Men temple area; Tien Ong cave area; Trong cave area; Luon cave area; Dinh Huong island area; Cap Tao cave area; Tung Sau cave area; Tra San area; Cat Lan area; Co cave area.
It is expected that 5 stations will officially broadcast in the second quarter of 2026; the rest will be completed in 2026.
As Lao Dong Newspaper has reported, the situation of "bottleneck" phone signals in Ha Long Bay has existed for a long time and for many years, Quang Ninh province has planned to handle it but has encountered many procedures.
In which, Viettel Quang Ninh once planned to put 6 BTS stations at 6 locations, including: Cua Van fishing village area, Soi Sim island, Cong Do area, Dinh Huong island area, Vung Vieng fishing village area, Bai Dong area (Mat Rong island), into operation from March 2023.
However, due to too many procedures, relevant units could not deploy the erection of BTS stations.
The lack of phone signal causes tourists when going to the middle of the bay to almost "lose contact" all day, even for a few days because they cannot contact the shore; functional agencies also encounter difficulties in handling cases, especially in rescue and relief work as well as management.
Regarding tourism, the fact that there is almost no phone signal in the bay has caused Ha Long Bay to lose the opportunity to be effectively and widely promoted free of charge by tourists globally.
According to representatives of the Ha Long Bay - Yen Tu World Heritage Management Board, with phone and internet waves basically covered at tourist destinations in Ha Long Bay, tourists can "live virtually", livestreaming live anywhere, anytime.
