On August 23, 2026, Vietnam's Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) published the Auction Notice No. 638/2026/TB-ĐGS5 and the matching auction regulation (Quy chế) for radio-frequency usage rights in the paired 900 MHz bands. The instruments, dated August 21, 2026 and issued through National Partnership Auction Company No. 5, put three 5+5 MHz FDD blocks on the block for public land mobile (IMT) use, with a live auction session fixed for 14:00 on September 9, 2026 in Hanoi.
The asset owner is MOST. The Radio Frequency Directorate (Cục Tần số vô tuyến điện) is tasked with organizing the procedure. Only enterprises that already hold a MOST confirmation that they meet the participation conditions under Decision No. 3168/QĐ-BKHCN of July 19, 2026 may register, buy a dossier, and bid. The rights become available after September 15, 2026 for a 15-year band licence.
What spectrum is being sold, and at what reserve?
Three paired blocks cover the full 900-915 MHz / 945-960 MHz pairing for IMT terrestrial public mobile systems (IMT-2000, IMT-Advanced, IMT-2020 and successors) in FDD mode. IMT-2000 use on the awarded spectrum may continue only until September 14, 2028. Each block carries the same reserve price of VND 1,056,943,950,000.
| Block | Uplink / downlink | Reserve price (VND) |
|---|---|---|
| C3-C3' | 900-905 MHz / 945-950 MHz | 1,056,943,950,000 |
| C4-C4' | 905-910 MHz / 950-955 MHz | 1,056,943,950,000 |
| C5-C5' | 910-915 MHz / 955-960 MHz | 1,056,943,950,000 |
Legal anchors cited in the notice include Decision No. 37/2025/QĐ-TTg (national radio-frequency spectrum plan), Circular No. 04/2024/TT-BTTTT as amended by Circular No. 29/2026/TT-BKHCN (880-915 / 925-960 MHz IMT plan), Decision No. 3053/QĐ-BKHCN of July 7, 2026 (base fee levels for these bands), Decision No. 3168/QĐ-BKHCN of July 19, 2026 (auction organisation plan), and Article 18(2) of the Law on Radio Frequencies No. 42/2009/QH12 as amended by Law No. 09/2022/QH15, which requires licensing of this 900 MHz capacity through auction.
Who can bid, and what are the hard deadlines?
Eligible bidders are enterprises that MOST has already confirmed as meeting the participation conditions for this auction plan. A bidder may register for all three blocks but may register to buy at most two paired blocks, under Article 1 of Circular No. 29/2026/TT-BKHCN of May 31, 2026. The bid increment is VND 10,000,000,000. The deposit is VND 55,000,000,000 per paired block (VND 110,000,000,000 if two blocks are registered). The dossier fee is VND 1,000,000 per dossier.
| Milestone | When / where |
|---|---|
| Dossier sale and receipt | 08:00 on August 25, 2026 to 17:00 on September 4, 2026 (business hours; dossiers arriving after 17:00 on September 4, 2026 are invalid) |
| Deposit credit deadline | 17:00 on September 4, 2026 (bank credit timestamp controls) |
| Document / asset viewing registration | By 17:00 on August 27, 2026 at Auction Company No. 5 (193 Hoàng Văn Thái, Phương Liệt, Hanoi) |
| Document viewing | August 26, 27 and 28, 2026 at the Radio Frequency Directorate, 115 Trần Duy Hưng, Yên Hòa, Hanoi |
| Auction session | 14:00 on September 9, 2026, 10th-floor hall, Radio Frequency Directorate, 115 Trần Duy Hưng, Hanoi |
Deposit payment must go to Auction Company No. 5's BIDV Thái Hà account No. 8630006886, with the transfer narrative naming the enterprise, its business registration number, and the 900 MHz blocks. Registration and auction information is also mirrored on the national auction portal (dgts.moj.gov.vn), the MOST portal (mst.gov.vn), the Radio Frequency Directorate site (rfd.gov.vn), taisancong.vn, and the auctioneer's site (daugiaso5.vn).
How will the auction run, and what licence conditions follow?
The format is an in-person, direct-ballot, ascending-price auction under the Law on Property Auction. Pricing runs in two stages applied to all blocks: first, rounds that set how many paired blocks each successful bidder takes; second, one round that assigns the specific block positions. Winners receive a 15-year band-usage licence and must apply Circular No. 04/2024/TT-BTTTT as amended by Circular No. 29/2026/TT-BKHCN, the licence terms, applicable national technical regulations on radio equipment, RF safety and EMC, coordination with adjacent-band licensees, and international border-frequency coordination outcomes, plus the Law on Radio Frequencies and the Law on Telecommunications.
For Vietnamese mobile network operators and any other enterprise that already holds the MOST eligibility confirmation, the operational clock is short: dossier and deposit mechanics close on September 4, 2026, and the hall opens on September 9, 2026. Missing either date ends participation for this award round. Spectrum, regulatory and finance teams should lock the eligibility letter, funding for up to two deposits, and board authority for a reserve-plus-increments bidding strategy before the dossier window closes.
Obsidian's monitoring can surface the next MOST, Radio Frequency Directorate and auction-portal filings on this 900 MHz process as soon as they appear, so bid teams are not waiting on manual portal checks.
Take advantage of this real-time watch
Next steps for exposed operators: confirm MOST eligibility under Decision No. 3168/QĐ-BKHCN; diary the September 4, 2026 dossier and deposit cut-off and the September 9, 2026 session; size cash for one or two VND 55,000,000,000 deposits plus the VND 1,056,943,950,000 reserve per block; and brief network planning on post-September 15, 2026 IMT use of any won C3, C4 or C5 pairing. Continuous jurisdiction-specific monitoring remains the practical way to catch clarifying notices before the hall opens.
