Cat Telecoms Wireless 3g (cdma 2000 1xev-do) With Sierra Wireless Aircard 580

[g00dgirl]

Got my Sierra Wireless Aircard 580 today from the CAT Telecom shop in Phuket town, Pang-Nga Road, the CAT Telecom building next to the TOT building.

For anyone who doesn't know, it's a PCMCIA card that goes into your laptops PCMCIA slot and has got an antenna built in to connect to the operators service wirelessly, but there are other options available, like USB devices for example, but all other devices on offer from what I understand don't support the highest possible data transfer rates.

Cost 12,950 THB,

application form in Thai completed by Thai bf.

bf house paper and

bf ID card copy required

(A work permit is required if farang makes the contract.)

The customer service story:

-------------------------------

We went yesterday already, without laptop, and were told the Aircard will not work in Nai Harn because they are 100% sure that it is too far from the nearest base station at the Post office in Chalong. I told them I would like to try it anyway and the lady got another guy to confirm that it will not work in Nai Harn because it is too far from the base station, but that another device would work. Again I said I don't mind and I would just like to get the card and try it. They said that if I would come and get it in the morning and if I don't want it because it doesn't work, I could bring it back before 3 pm the same day. And they also said I need to bring my laptop since they would like to install it because they are sure I can not do it.

Ok so we went back this morning and I helped the lady a bit with the installation of the card but she was quite knowledgeable and all the staff were attentive, friendly and courteous at all times I really have to say.

So it was installed and working fine and they asked me to test it for a while before signing the contract.

The contract is 590 THB per month for unlimited time and data usage, but there are other usage based plans available, too.

They said billing won't start until May, so until then I use the service free.

The contract can also be cancelled anytime, so I don't have to pay 590 THB every month for a year if I don't need it anymore.

The testing:

------------

Worked fine with perfect reception in the car around Phuket town, inside Central Festival carpark and stores, in the MK restaurant etc, most of the way along ChaoFa Road to Rawai, with one area without coverage in the area around Tiger Muay Thai Camp.

Coverage perfect again at Chalong Circle and Chalong Post Office and now the interesting part: The coverage stayed perfect with 5 bars all the way to Nai Harn, so I don't know why they tried to convince me to not get the Aircard but one of the other devices and why they tried to insist that they are sure it will not work in Nai Harn ...

I get download speeds from Dallas, TX (http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/) of 470 kbps down, and with my MAXNet ADSL I get from the same speed test only 140 kbps down.

Conclusion:

------------

For everybody who can't get a phone line or who finds his ADSL is too unreliable with drop-out, slow speeds and that they need a back-up, head to the CAT Telecom office in the morning to try the Aircard where you would use it most of the time, if it doesnt work you can bring it back before 3pm, if it works you can be happy and the monthly fee for unlimited usage 3G wireless broadband is very reasonable!

Thailand has become more attractive to international business people and people who need good internet infrastructure with CAT Telecoms CDMA2000 1xEV-DO service, which is classified as 3G just like UMTS.

[paveet]

Hi there.. great to hear that you're getting a working internet with CAT (meanwhile my cat hinet g.shdsl has slowed down because of school holidays)

Do you get a real IP on this or do you get assigned an internal IP (like 10.x.x.x, 172.[2-3]x.x.x or 192.168.x.x)? Am I correct that this service is not available in Bangkok?

Thanks

Pavee

[Lorin]

Hi there.. great to hear that you're getting a working internet with CAT (meanwhile my cat hinet g.shdsl has slowed down because of school holidays)

Do you get a real IP on this or do you get assigned an internal IP (like 10.x.x.x, 172.[2-3]x.x.x or 192.168.x.x)? Am I correct that this service is not available in Bangkok?

Thanks

Pavee

Where we can read more on that service? Available in BKK/Pattaya?

[nikster]

Last I checked 3G was not available in the north. But that was a while ago, when only Hutch offered 3G.

Does anybody have a coverage map, or even better know when coverage is going to be expanded? If available, I will be the first to have it... no question.

[g00dgirl]

I was told it does not work in Bangkok but I don't know why it wouldn't.

There are many open questions, for example in Thailand the network from what I understand is owned by Hutch(inson) and CAT together.

And a lot of information about the service is on http://www.hutch.co.th/mbi/index_en.htm. There are also promotions listed on this website, however in the CAT shop in Phuket town they told me Hutch was another company and they don't have these promotions ...

Just strange that on the Hutch website the CAT shop in Phuket town is listed with address and phone number as one of the places to sign up for the service / buy the hardware.

There are also many many shops / office locations listed to sign up for the service in Bangkok, so why this, if it would not work in Bangkok.

I would not take any information I get from staff for granted (after all they insisted I have no service in my area). I would also not listen to any rumours. If this is important to you, go to one of the dealers / offices and ask to try out the card yourself and keep calling other phone numbers and asking different people for answers.

Here is a list of all locations in Bangkok to sign up: http://www.hutch.co.th/wheretobuy/index_en.htm

[slimdog]

I was told it does not work in Bangkok but I don't know why it wouldn't.

There are many open questions, for example in Thailand the network from what I understand is owned by Hutch(inson) and CAT together.

There was an article in the Bangkok Post Business section a few days ago which might explain this:

Nationwide CDMA close to completion

CAT Telecom now owns the CDMA 1xEVDO network that covers the 51 provinces not already covered by Hutch. The broadband cellular network was built by Huawei Technologies of China and delivered to CAT early this year. The network is currently under inspection by CAT.

Hutch currently markets Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) 2000 1-x cellular service in 25 central provinces on a network leased from BFKT, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hutchison Telecom.

Although there was no problem with voice service in roaming between the two CDMA networks, problems could occur in data transfer, considered the core of service of CDMA, which is touted as having superior properties to those of the GSM system. As a result, he said, Hutch needed to upgrade its network to match that of CAT in order to provide seamless service nationwide.

The full article can still be viewed at the Bangkok Post webpage (for a few more days anyway) by going to Recent Editions, Business, 29th March

Hope of some help

[monty]

To clarify a bit what is going on with the Cat/Hutch thingy...

Hutch services 25 Provinces in Thailand. It offers both voice and data services on their network.

The data service is the older cdma 1x standard (2.5G, not 3G) offering speeds of up to 144kbps.

Hutch has a roaming agreement with CAT, which covers the remaining provinces, but only for voice communications, NOT for for the data service! So your Hutch phone works pretty much nationwide, but your Hutch data aircard will only work within the 25 provinces covered by Hutch.

CAT is currently trialling the CDMA evdo network in Phuket, and is rolling out the network in the other provinces where it offers services (the no Hutch area). Eventually they will offer the 3G evdo service in all these 51 provinces.

Users in the 25 Hutch covered provinces will not be able to get the fast CAT offering, until Hutch upgrades it's own network to the evdo standard!!!

Unfortunately there is absolutely no news from Hutch if and when they will offer the evdo system in the future

I was told it does not work in Bangkok but I don't know why it wouldn't.

Bangkok is covered by Hutch. No CAT service available!

Where we can read more on that service? Available in BKK/Pattaya?

Same answer, Pattaya is also a Hutch area, no CAT services

when only Hutch offered 3G.

Hutch does not have 3G services, they use the older cdma 1x standard, offering up to 144kbps. GPRS Edge is actually faster with speeds up to 380kbps attainable, although because of limited bandwidth availability both with Dtac and AIS, actual international speeds are much lower. Tests to servers within Thailand show over 300kbps!

[g00dgirl]

Thanks slimdog for the article and monty for the clarifications! Now it makes more sense.

Some other interesting articles I found:

Thu, March 8, 2007 : Last updated 18:44 pm (Thai local time)

CAT Telecom to hire appraiser

CAT Telecom's board yesterday resolved to engage an independent appraiser to evaluate the assets of Hutchison CAT Wireless Multimedia and CAT CDMA.

Piriya Siribon, CAT board spokesman, said the appraisal would answer whether Hutchison should take over CAT CDMA, or the other way round.

The appraisal result is expected by August. It will be known by the end of the year whether the acquisition will take place or both companies will establish a joint venture. Both parties are providing CDMA-based mobile phone services. - The Nation.

THAILAND: Southern unrest shakes CAT Telecom's network schedule

Network construction will not be finished next month due to violence in southern provinces

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

By Komsan Tortermvasana

CAT Telecom says the unrest in the three southern provinces has delayed its CDMA network expansion in the region, possibly forcing it behind schedule.

Deputy president Phisal Jorphocha-udom said network construction in Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat was expected to finish next month, but it now it looked likely that work would fall behind schedule.

On Saturday night there was renewed violence in Hat Yai, the main commercial and tourist centre in the South. It was hit by a series of bomb blasts, which killed four and injured at least 80 people.

This has also affected the work of CAT's contractor, the Chinese supplier Huawei Technologies, to build 70 base stations in the three provinces under Phase II the expansion project.

To date only five out of the 27 stations planned for Pattani have been constructed, with the rest at a ground-construction stage or 20% finished. In Yala, only two stations out of 19 are finished, while in Narathiwat only two out of the 24 have been built.

Mr Phisal said that working hours at construction sites had been cut to only six hours a day and that workers left the sites at 3 pm for security reasons, he said.

However, he said, delays had also been caused by a shortage of materials and machinery.

He said CAT Telecom would propose improvements to the welfare of its 47 staff working in the sensitive areas.

Under the 7.2-billion-baht CDMA expansion project, Huawei is to install 1,600 base stations nationwide by January.

The Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) project is designed to make the mobile system available nationwide. Currently it is available under the Hutch brand in 25 central provinces and Bangkok.

Posted on: Thursday, 17 February 2005, 00:00 CST

CAT in Talks to Take Over Hutch's Unit; CDMA Equipment Target of Purchase

Feb. 17--CAT Telecom has made an offer to take over BFKT, the wholly-owned subsidiary of the Hutchison Group and provider of equipment and base stations for the Hutch CDMA mobile phone system.

Withit Sajjapong, the CAT Telecom president, confirmed that two rounds of talks had been made with Hutchinson about buying out the assets of BFKT.

The Hong Kong-based company has asked for two weeks to consider the deal.

Mr Withit said the offer was only for the purchase of assets leased by BFKT for the CDMA system, and not for the entire company itself.

An option under the deal could include allowing Hutchison to continue offering marketing services for the Hutch system under an expanded nationwide agreement, Mr Withit said.

He added that if the deal went through, payment would be made in cash and shares.

Details of the buyout offer were still under negotiation, but sources said CAT Telecom has proposed a price of over 10 billion baht for the network assets. The offer considers hefty depreciation costs on the more than 30 billion baht invested by Hutchison to build up the CDMA network.

Stephen Ngan, chief operating officer of Hutchison CAT Wireless Multimedia, declined to comment on the takeover proposal.

Hutchison CAT Wireless Multimedia, 74 percent owned by Hutchison and the remainder by CAT Telecom, provides marketing services for the CDMA system in 25 central provinces, including Bangkok. CAT Telecom leases the network used for the Hutch service from BFKT.

CAT Telecom recently signed a 7.119 billion baht deal with Chinese giant Huawei to expand the CDMA network nationwide.

Under the expansion project, 1,600 new base stations will be built, with the first 800 to be delivered within 12 months.

Mr Withit said the nationwide expansion of the CDMA network would help bolster prospects for Hutch, currently the smallest of Thailand's four main cellular operators behind Advanced Info Service, DTAC and TA Orange.

"Hutch just needs some adjustment in its business strategy to gain the win-win position, once the picture of the network expansion and new technology like CDMA 1x EVDO becomes clearer," he said.

CAT Telecom wanted to become a network provider, rather than just a service operator, due to the potential growth opportunities of wireless technology, Mr Withit said.

He acknowledged that the current system, where BFKT owns the CDMA network in the central region while CAT Telecom controls that for the rest of the country, was an unusual development, and said that integrating the two through the asset buyout would eliminate the problem.

A successful network expansion and asset buyout from Hutchison would also bolster CAT Telecom's balance sheet ahead of the agency's planned privatisation and listing on the Stock Exchange of Thailand later this year.

CAT Telecom has seen its core revenues from international calling services sharply decline following the growth of low cost Internet telephone services.

Mr Withit said the expansion of CDMA would help boost the company's offerings, and expressed confidence that the system could be put in place quickly.

He said two key advantages of CDMA technology are the relatively low cost per number, and its potential use as a wireless data service.

CAT Telecom is planning a new marketing push for its current services before the future launch of CDMA 1X technology, which provides both voice and data roaming services.

The current CDMA system used under the BFKT network, known as IS95A, offers more limited voice services.

Thursday, 29 March 2007

CAT says nationwide 1xEV-DO services available this year

CDMA2000 1x and 1xEV-DO mobile phone services are expected to be commercially available in all provinces of Thailand by the end of this year, according to a statement by state-run operator CAT Telecom. The rollout of CAT’s 2.5G/3G network covering 51 provinces was completed by Chinese technology provider Huawei in January, and CAT says it is currently in a nationwide trial phase of EV-DO services. The remaining 25 provinces of the country, including Bangkok, are already served by a CDMA2000 1x mobile network run by CAT’s joint venture with Hong Kong’s Hutchison Telecom, Hutchison CAT Multimedia. CAT plans to team up with Hutch to market the new expanded service, but the two companies have not yet agreed on the details of the proposed tie-up. Executives of CAT and Hutch are meeting this week with their PR agency Ogilvy to discuss expanded cooperation. A CAT executive told local press that under the collaboration, services in all provinces would have the same end-user prices and promotions, but clarified that this did not mean CAT would hand over its nationwide network to Hutch to handle marketing, as had happened in the 25 central provinces. Procurement, employment and collection of service fees would be separated, the official said. Another company source said that Hutch now needed to upgrade its 1x network to match the transmission rates of CAT’s in order to provide seamless service nationwide.

According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms database, Hutchison CAT Wireless Multimedia is a joint venture between Hutchison Telecom International (HTIL) and CAT Telecom. CAT owns a 26% stake, whilst HTIL and its nominee companies hold the remaining 74%. The company has recently been forced to defend the legality of its ownership structure, which, on the face of it, appears to breach the Telecom Business Law capping foreign shareholdings to no more than 49%. It maintains that foreign ownership rules do not apply to it because it only ‘markets’ telecoms services rather than operating a network, whilst the actual telecoms licence holder is CAT. Hutchison CAT Wireless Multimedia had 728,000 subscribers at the end of 2006, down slightly from 732,000 a year earlier, whilst CAT currently only has around 15,000 users of its legacy CDMA IS-95A services. There were a total of 39.77 million mobile subscribers in Thailand at the end of 2006.

In other news, CAT is reported to be in talks with the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) about launching high speed telecoms services over PEA's fibre-optic network.

Mon, March 5, 2007 : Last updated 22:20 pm (Thai local time)

CAT and JV may pool resources

Agency and Hutchison-CAT discuss joint branding and procurement to boost bargaining power with big players

CAT Telecom is talking with Hutchison-CAT about collaborating in branding and handset procurement for their broadband cellular services.

CAT chief financial officer Jirayuth Rungsrithong said last week that topping the agenda was CAT's desire to combine mobile-phone orders with Hutchison-CAT to boost their bargaining power vis-a-vis global suppliers.

The state agency also wants to utilise Hutchison-CAT's software to deliver wireless content to its own customers.

Hutchison-CAT, which is 75:25 owned by Hong Kong telecom giant Hutchison Telecom and CAT, markets the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) 2000 1-X cellular service in 25 provinces, using a network leased from BFKT, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hutchison Telecom.

CAT will provide its own CDMA cellular service in April on its own network spanning 51 provinces.

CAT also asked Hutchison-CAT to use the same logo for its CDMA service, though it said they would keep their own brands, Jirayuth said. Hutchison-CAT uses Hutch, while CAT will be branded CAT CDMA.

The state agency will spend Bt300 million to market its CDMA service with the goal of signing up 150,000 users this year. Initially it will focus on providing an air-card service, which gives notebook-computer users high-speed wireless access to the Internet.

Both are still discussing integrating their networks and amending their marketing contract to promote greater flexibility in their marketing campaigns. The contract is currently under examination by the Council of State for compliance with the state-private joint-investment law.

Hutchison-CAT, which made a splash on its debut several years ago, now has over 700,000 subscribers. CAT's share of revenue from the joint venture dropped to Bt2.05 billion last year from Bt2.19 billion the year before.

Usanee Mongkolporn

The Nation

[trd]

I too am using CDMA with a Sierra Aircard in Phuket and I'm happy with it. The network hardly ever goes down unlike my experience with ADSL

One thing to consider though. If you have a requirement to upload large files or you want to use Skype then CDMA is not very suitable because the upload speed is very slow, about the same as dialup (around 45k kbs) Download is OK at about 500 kbs.

[g00dgirl]

I too am using CDMA with a Sierra Aircard in Phuket and I'm happy with it. The network hardly ever goes down unlike my experience with ADSL

One thing to consider though. If you have a requirement to upload large files or you want to use Skype then CDMA is not very suitable because the upload speed is very slow, about the same as dialup (around 45k kbs) Download is OK at about 500 kbs.

I tested skype yesterday, and it was very clear, no lag.

[trd]

I too am using CDMA with a Sierra Aircard in Phuket and I'm happy with it. The network hardly ever goes down unlike my experience with ADSL

One thing to consider though. If you have a requirement to upload large files or you want to use Skype then CDMA is not very suitable because the upload speed is very slow, about the same as dialup (around 45k kbs) Download is OK at about 500 kbs.

I tested skype yesterday, and it was very clear, no lag.

When I tried it I didn't get any lag either and what I was hearing was OK but the person I was speaking to said that I was breaking up. I put that down to the slow upload speed. I'll try it again though.

[trd]

Just to add that Khun Vichan at the CDMA office in Phuket Town told me before I purchased it that it wasn't suitable for Skype based on numerous reports he had received from users. Apparently CAT has now sold about 300,000 aircards throughout Thailand. CAT's service is now available in 51 provinces. Someone mentioned unavailability in Bangkok. I think there's some kind of tie up with Hutchison's 3G service but you need to check with CAT. I've also heard that DTAC will be rolling out their nationwide 3G service soon so looks like there will be lots of choice in the broadband mobile market.

[paveet]

I too am using CDMA with a Sierra Aircard in Phuket and I'm happy with it. The network hardly ever goes down unlike my experience with ADSL

One thing to consider though. If you have a requirement to upload large files or you want to use Skype then CDMA is not very suitable because the upload speed is very slow, about the same as dialup (around 45k kbs) Download is OK at about 500 kbs.

I tested skype yesterday, and it was very clear, no lag.

When I tried it I didn't get any lag either and what I was hearing was OK but the person I was speaking to said that I was breaking up. I put that down to the slow upload speed. I'll try it again though.

Hi there, just out of interest would you mind doing a traceroute through the CAT CDMA network? This would give me (well many of us) here the idea of the sort of latency and how their network is set out (whether you get a real IP, etc). I'm surprised skype works well over mobile networks, last time I was on GPRS I had 800ms pings to anywhere in Thailand (but again this is CDMA not GSM).

Thanks!

Pavee

PS to do this, start the command prompt (start > run > cmd > ok) and when in the command prompt, type tracert 202.57.128.65 and press enter. To copy the stuff in command prompt (and later paste onto here), right click on the command prompt, mark, then highlight the areas, then right click on the area highlighted.

(202.57.128.65 is isp-thailand.com - an internet service provider in Thailand with a web server that responds to pings)

[paveet]

When I tried it I didn't get any lag either and what I was hearing was OK but the person I was speaking to said that I was breaking up. I put that down to the slow upload speed. I'll try it again though.

Oh. I agree with you here, 45kbps upload isn't enough for Skype.

Pavee

[trd]

We went yesterday already, without laptop, and were told the Aircard will not work in Nai Harn because they are 100% sure that it is too far from the nearest base station at the Post office in Chalong.

There is another CDMA base station near the Or Bor Tor office at the end of Rawai beach.

[trd]

I'll get the traceroute data up within the next half hour.

[trd]

Here's the trace. I don't really know how to interpret this data but the network is a lot slower today than it normally is. Usually if I do a speed test to speakeasy.net I get between 500-600 kbps download. I just did one and it's 285 kbps download and 29 kbps upload. In fact it's been a bit on the slow side for the last week or so. Could be that the same thing is happening as it did before with ADSL as the number of subscribers increased but the overall bandwidth didn't.

tracert 202.57.128.65Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]

© Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

tracert 202.57.128.65

Tracing route to siam.isp-thailand.com [202.57.128.65]

over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 * * * Request timed out.

2 209 ms 204 ms 197 ms 10.99.130.254

3 221 ms 208 ms 213 ms 10.99.7.198

4 * * * Request timed out.

5 191 ms 220 ms 217 ms 10.99.3.230

6 * * * Request timed out.

7 * * * Request timed out.

8 220 ms 198 ms 183 ms 61.19.52.73

9 182 ms 340 ms 233 ms 202.129.30.133

10 186 ms 175 ms 198 ms 202.47.247.250

11 445 ms 223 ms 210 ms 61.19.60.85

12 384 ms 776 ms 202 ms 61.19.60.42

13 208 ms 401 ms 250 ms 202.57.146.29.sta.isp-thailand.com [202.57.146.2

9]

14 219 ms 199 ms 209 ms 202.57.146.38.sta.isp-thailand.com [202.57.146.3

8]

15 743 ms 212 ms 192 ms siam.isp-thailand.com [202.57.128.65]

Trace complete.

[nadavbkk]

what about card from ais (1 2 call ) ??????

[g00dgirl]

There is another CDMA base station near the Or Bor Tor office at the end of Rawai beach.

Ah, very interesting

[g00dgirl]

Hi there, just out of interest would you mind doing a traceroute through the CAT CDMA network?

Sure (you didn't have to explain how to do a tracert :

Tracing route to siam.isp-thailand.com [202.57.128.65]

over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 * * * Request timed out.

2 363 ms 159 ms 188 ms 10.99.130.254

3 159 ms 188 ms 208 ms 10.99.7.198

4 * * * Request timed out.

5 223 ms 212 ms 763 ms 10.99.3.230

6 * * * Request timed out.

7 * 262 ms * 61.19.64.4

8 180 ms 226 ms 170 ms 61.19.52.73

9 216 ms 206 ms 215 ms 202.129.30.125

10 228 ms 494 ms 218 ms 202.47.247.250

11 207 ms 201 ms 223 ms 61.19.60.81

12 192 ms 208 ms 193 ms 61.19.60.42

13 438 ms 1085 ms 199 ms 202.57.146.29.sta.isp-thailand.com [202.57.146.2

9]

14 301 ms 221 ms 221 ms 202.57.146.38.sta.isp-thailand.com [202.57.146.3

8]

15 181 ms 209 ms 191 ms siam.isp-thailand.com [202.57.128.65]

Trace complete.

[g00dgirl]

what about card from ais (1 2 call ) ??????

AIS 1,2 Call don't offer CDMA 1xEV-DO, this would not belong into this thread. With AIS you would be using GPRS/EDGE, which is another technology and does not use the Aircard 580.

Please read and post about this in one of these threads:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=110287

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=57480

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=43517

[g00dgirl]

My speed right now in Nai Harn, Rawai, Phuket

with Cat Telecoms Wireless 3g (cdma 2000 1xev-do) With Sierra Wireless Aircard 580

[gharknes]

how much is it per month ?

sorry if i missed it.

[Lorin]

My speed right now in Nai Harn, Rawai, Phuket

with Cat Telecoms Wireless 3g (cdma 2000 1xev-do) With Sierra Wireless Aircard 580

###### its look very good, even the upload is better than most of DSL packages...

[g00dgirl]

how much is it per month ?

sorry if i missed it.

I paid just under 13,000 for the Aircard.

They did not start to bill me per month, they said I get 2 months free, later 590 Baht / month for unlimited usage.

In some other posts I read that last year they told some people they will start monthly billing this February and until then it's free (testing phase or something).

Is anybody actually getting billed per month yet?

[Crushdepth]

Anyone know when/if the cat cdma network will be available in Bangkok?

[monty]

Anyone know when/if the cat cdma network will be available in Bangkok?

Nope, Bangkok is covered by Hutch so CAT does not and will not have any base stations there.

It is either waiting until Hutch decides to upgrade to cdma evdo, or wait and see what will happen with the proposed merger/takeover between CAT and Hutch.

They are trying to decide whether Hutch will take over CAT's EVDO network or vice versa

[paveet]

Anyone know when/if the cat cdma network will be available in Bangkok?

Nope, Bangkok is covered by Hutch so CAT does not and will not have any base stations there.

It is either waiting until Hutch decides to upgrade to cdma evdo, or wait and see what will happen with the proposed merger/takeover between CAT and Hutch.

They are trying to decide whether Hutch will take over CAT's EVDO network or vice versa

Hmmm.. to be honest Hutch isnt doing that well in business.

[Crushdepth]

Nope, Bangkok is covered by Hutch so CAT does not and will not have any base stations there.

It is either waiting until Hutch decides to upgrade to cdma evdo, or wait and see what will happen with the proposed merger/takeover between CAT and Hutch.

They are trying to decide whether Hutch will take over CAT's EVDO network or vice versa

Unfortunately Hutch uses a slow flavour of CDMA, which is only marginally faster than EDGE

I want 3.6 mb wireless broadband!

[kudroz]

Do you guys know if I could buy a EVDO Express Slot card off ebay that works on a Mac and just configure it with CAT settings? Because Macs don't have PCMCIA slots, they have only the new Express Slot.