Thailand to give free mobile data for those homebound by coronavirus

[snoop1130]

Thailand to give free mobile data for those homebound by coronavirus

By Chayut Setboonsarng

 

FILE PHOTO: Women use their mobile phones while waiting for a bus at rush hour in Bangkok, Thailand October 4, 2018. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand will give the public free mobile data as companies initiate work-from-home policies and schools use remote learning amid the coronavirus outbreak, a senior government official said on Tuesday as operators considered investment to expand capacity.

 

"Individuals can register for 10 gigabytes (GB) of mobile data each month starting April 10," said Takorn Tantasith, secretary-general of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission. The commission would compensate the operators, a spokesman said separately, but no details were available.

 

Thailand's main three mobile operators did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

 

"The government is giving the data so the public can stay home and limit the spread of COVID," Takorn said referring to the name of the disease caused by the coronavirus.

 

Thailand on Tuesday reported 127 new coronavirus cases, bringing the national tally up to 1,651 since the country's first case was reported in January.

 

There have been 10 deaths.

 

Third-ranked mobile operator, Total Access Communication Pcl (DTAC) said it was considering accelerating investment to expand its mobile data footprint based on new patterns of usage.

 

In the past, data use has usually increased in areas with dense populations, but the current increase is widespread, including residential areas outside city centers, DTAC Head of Investor Relations, Sirawit Klabdee told Reuters.

 

"This is a challenge because (when) increasing capacity in areas outside the city ... there are uncertainties like the duration of the heightened data use," he said. The company was considering increasing its annual capital expenditure this year to 15 billion baht ($457 million) from 13 billion baht, he said.

 

The government declared a state of emergency last week and urged companies to adopt work from home policies to limit movement of people.

 

Top mobile operator, Advanced Info Service Pcl has seen mobile data and broadband volume growth of over 10% in the last month, chief consumer business officer Pratthana Leelapanang, told Reuters.

 

Video conferencing grew more than ten times, partly due to the increase in remote learning because of the closure of schools and universities, he said.

 

Rival operator, True Corporation Pcl said last week it would triple its broadband capacity after seeing a 52% increase in broadband use and 18.4% jump in mobile data usage in the last month.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-03-31

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[smedly]

6 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

Thailand to give free mobile data for those homebound by coronavirus

not wanting to state the obvious but everyone is homebound or is supposed to be

 

any bets this will be Thai only

Edited March 31, 2020 by smedly

[unamazedloso]

10gig? Useless.... Im using 100+ a day hotspotting to the kids and running netflix and youtube, cctv around the clock. If it aint unlimited its just annoying!!

Its 2020, who runs wired connections anymore?..  Im using Finn mobile 1000b per month unlimited!! Never had a problem, only running a 4g phone and never any buffering running multiple tvs on netflix and such at the same time.

For those people on AIS. Call them up and say you dont want their service anymore and you want to keep your number prepaid or plan, doesnt matter. You will get offered all kinds of goodies but it aint worth it. I was offered 50% discount indefinitely on a plan and free data for 3 months to stay with them. Told them to go to hell. They wouldnt give me my number and played games and double charged things etc. Pretty childish.

[smedly]

14 minutes ago, unamazedloso said:

Its 2020, who runs wired connections anymore

I do because it's fast 

[bangkokfrog]

1 hour ago, unamazedloso said:

10gig? Useless.... Im using 100+ a day hotspotting to the kids and running netflix and youtube, cctv around the clock. If it aint unlimited its just annoying!!

I can't believe people are complaining about this. Loso, this is NOT useless because it is not intended for the likes of us who are heavy duty users of netflix, etc. Rather, it is to help the average (Thai?) person who finds themselves isolated to stay in touch with work, family and friends. Mind you, this is not to say that many of them will not max it out in the first week on Facebook, etc!!! My main concern is for those stuck in country areas with little or no internet coverage.

Edited March 31, 2020 by bangkokfrog

[Canuck1966]

11 hours ago, smedly said:

not wanting to state the obvious but everyone is homebound or is supposed to be

 

any bets this will be Thai only

It is!

[Phuketshrew]

Our 3BB is in wifey's name so we will definitely tray and get this ????

[kwak250]

5 hours ago, unamazedloso said:

Its 2020, who runs wired connections anymore?.. 

 

 I was offered 50% discount indefinitely on a plan and free data for 3 months to stay with them. Told them to go to hell.

I use wired connection as it's much faster.

 

Did you really tell them that ? Or have you started your lockdown beer already?

Edited April 1, 2020 by kwak250

[geoff65]

15 hours ago, smedly said:

not wanting to state the obvious but everyone is homebound or is supposed to be

 

any bets this will be Thai only

What do you expect?????

[sometimewoodworker]

6 hours ago, unamazedloso said:

10gig? Useless.... Im using 100+ a day hotspotting to the kids and running netflix and youtube, cctv around the clock. If it aint unlimited its just annoying!!

Welcome to a star place on https://www.reddit.com/r/ChoosingBeggars/

[KhunBENQ]

53 minutes ago, geoff65 said:

What do you expect?????

Will try my ID from the pink card and see what happens.

Might fail as the SIM is registered with my passport number.

1 hour ago, kwak250 said:

I use wired connection as it's much faster.

Of course wired/WiFi at home. Even bought an adapter for my new notebook that does not have a LAN connector anymore.

Mobile data will never be able to supply unlimited volume/speed to everyone.

Very useful for those ordinary Thais who are not as smart and don't have full wallets like seen above.

 

Edited April 1, 2020 by KhunBENQ

[treetops]

4 hours ago, Phuketshrew said:

Our 3BB is in wifey's name so we will definitely tray and get this ????

How will extra mobile data help your wifey's 3BB broadband?

[Caldera]

16 hours ago, smedly said:

any bets this will be Thai only

I guess you're right. The code you have to dial to apply for this includes the subscriber's Thai ID number.

 

[BritManToo]

17 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

"Individuals can register for 10 gigabytes (GB) of mobile data each month starting April 10," said Takorn Tantasith, secretary-general of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission. The commission would compensate the operators, a spokesman said separately, but no details were available.

Now they're trying to crash the mobile phone system!