The Cơ Tu ethnic community of A'ur village in the rural mountain commune of A Vương have recently gotten mobile broadband coverage. The villagers in the isolated area were also using a solar power system for electricity. Photo courtesy of A Vương Commune

ĐÀ NẴNG — After 50 years of going without, the isolated ethnic Cơ Tu community of A'ur Village in A Vương Commune, 120km west of downtown Đà Nẵng, now have easy access to electricity and mobile broadband coverage.

Chairman of the commune People’s Committee Briu Quân said 25 households in the village, only accessible from the communal administrative centre by a 16km hiking route through dense jungle, are now making full use of smartphones with social networking apps like Zalo and Facebook.

Residents of A'ur village carry equipment to install a base transceiver station for mobile phone signal in the isolated mountain commune. Photo courtesy of Briu Quân

According to Quân, only 3km of the 16km jungle path was paved in concrete, so the main access route for the village was a six-hour trek.

He said the local ethnic community is now building connections between the village’s cooperative and the market to sell farm produce through social networks.

A Viettel Group worker in central Việt Nam checks a device for mobile signals in A'ur Village, A Vương Commune in Đà Nẵng. Photo courtesy of A Vương Commune

He said the village was one of three remaining in the commune with no mobile broadband coverage or electricity.

The chairman noted that a fund of VNĐ317 billion (US$12.2 million) from the city’s action plan is being used to help 13 communities connect to the national power grid and mobile networks from 2026 to 2028.

However, A'ur Village needs an investment in road infrastructure to complete the connection, he added.

A 20kw solar power battery source was also located for 10 households living in Pê Ta Pók in Đà Nẵng's Đắk Pring Commune as part of the city’s action plan to support rural mountain communities.

Ethnic Cơ Tu craftswomen weave brocade at their community house in a rural mountain commune in Đà Nẵng. Photo courtesy of A Vương Commune

A'ur Village, which is situated in the core zone of the Saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis) Conservation Reserve in central Việt Nam, is an isolated community in deep primary jungle amid the vast Trường Sơn Mountain range, also known as the Annamite Range.

The nearby Chiêm Sơn Village, an eco-tour community, often hosts around 50 visitors each day, but poor mobile signal coverage has limited communication and emergency aid. — VNS