Tot Broadband: 1gbps By July In Phuket

[drake]

TOT broadband: 1Gbps by July

PHUKET (Nation/Gazette): TOT kicked off its project to build a new fiber-optic broadband-Internet service for Phuket with the awarding yesterday of a 136.8-million-baht network-construction contract.

“We picked Phuket as the first location to launch the service because the island has affluent consumers who can afford the premium-priced service,” said Sayan Tinsamran, TOT senior executive vice president for marketing and product development.

Under the contract, a consortium led by Italian-Thai Development and Siam Fibre Optic will install a 200-kilometer fiber network with 3,200 broadband-Internet ports.

The service will deliver voice, data and video on demand at speeds of up to 1Gbps over FTTx, or “Fiber To The x”, where “x” could be a home, buildings or any other location hooking up to the network.

Fujikura, a Japanese vendor, will supply its FTTx technology, while NTT-West Co, a Japanese telecom company, will act as project consultant.

K. Sayan said that the state enterprise had spent two years on the project’s feasibility study.

FTTx technology costs about 50,000 baht per port, more than conventional asynchronous digital subscriber line technology (ADSL). The service fee is expected to be high, but TOT will not finalize the rate until the launch date.

“We expect to break even in four years,” said K. Sayan.

The first phase will offer only voice and data; video on demand will come later.

“If the service in Phuket proves successful, FTTx will be expanded to other provinces, including Khon Kaen and Chiang Mai,” he added.

Pairoj Somsri, who heads the TOT office in Phuket, said he expects the system to be operational around the beginning of July.

Fiber-optic cables up to 20 kilometers in length will originate from the main Phuket TOT office in Phuket City as well as its two sub-branch offices in Thalang and Patong.

The network should cover most of the island, he said.

“I think it is great that Phuket was chosen to be the pilot province for this project, because this is new technology with a high investment cost,” he added.

K. Pairoj declined to estimate what prospective users would have to pay for the service once it becomes available.

Upon learning that the contract had been signed, Gazette computer-columnist Woody Leonhard was cautiously optimistic.

“If TOT is able to deliver 1Gbps international Internet access to offices and homes in Phuket, it will represent a major breakthrough in the island’s efforts to establish itself as an IT hub for Southeast Asia. Fiber in Phuket should prove to be a very wise investment, but to get a return on that investment, TOT must offer high-speed service not only to locations inside Thailand, but out to the rest of the world as well.”

Henry Habermacher of X-Net computers in Phuket City was more doubtful that the average Internet user would benefit.

“It’s not the speed on the last mile, it’s the speed from Thailand to the international lines,” he said. “What should I do with a 1Gbps-wide fiber line if I get served over the international lines with only 100Kbps? This will not help us at all. This is for radio stations, telephone… Internet users using international lines are not targeted with this plan at all.”

He added that the service would only become more strained with the increased demand unless CAT and other providers first expand Internet bandwidth internationally.

Phuket Gazzette, 24.1.08

http://www.phuketgazette.net/news/index.asp

[moo9]

Pure marketing lies.....instead they should expand the bandwith of their international gateways.

[Prasert]

It's obviously farang technology.

In other words: it will be installed, it will be fast (well, on the new network that is) and once the knowledge on how to build it leaves Thailand, TOT will manage it.

And they will lack the knowledge to troubleshoot and solve problems. I bet you'll get exactly the same answers from Customer Service when you have a problem with your 50.000 baht connection...... and everybody knows what those answers are!

Well, at least the idea and the intentions are good!

[marcus]

They can connect every house in Thailand on a fiber network, but as long they don't spend a couple of Baht to the international backbone operators, it will be only good for "Thai Surf"

[nikster]

Leave it to TV members to find something negative to say about anything - even when it's faster internet! It's astonishing.

Guys, what's not to like? 1Gbps for 50,000 Baht?! That's 5,000 BHT for 100Mbps, yes, I will sign up for that in an instant. In a second.

TOT knows full well that its international bandwidth currently would make this a complete waste of investment - they are targeting Phuket b/c there are many rich foreigners there, and they want international connections (*). I think they are banking on the new underseas cable to the U.S. that goes operational end of 2008.

1Gbps fiber - woo hoo! Can't wait till they have it in Chiang Mai.

(*) Who doesn't really? Are there even any websites hosted inside Thailand?

[vam-pire]

Yet more B/S yet another day dream ….. in a land where the motto is

Never expect Better and You will not be Disappointed

VP

[nikster]

Yet more B/S yet another day dream ….. in a land where the motto is

Never expect Better and You will not be Disappointed

LOL - thanks for illustrating my point!

[samsara]

good daily joke

[drake]

Phuket’s massive Internet meltdown

http://www.phuketgazette.net/computers/pdf...ry%2028,%202008

and 1GHz to DSLAM - strange idea ;-)

[Kyosuken]

“It’s not the speed on the last mile, it’s the speed from Thailand to the international lines,” he said. “What should I do with a 1Gbps-wide fiber line if I get served over the international lines with only 100Kbps? This will not help us at all. This is for radio stations, telephone… Internet users using international lines are not targeted with this plan at all.”

Am i the only one to see that ??

[Gary A]

I think it would be a much better idea to get their Crapstar to at least 25 percent of their advertised speed first.

[nikster]

What does crapstar have to do with TOT? I thought that's owned by yours truly Shin-something.

As for "international use is not targeted with this" - come on, I don't buy that. That's the opinion of some disgruntled farang.

TOT may have horrible service etc but even they have enough sense to know that the people they are targeting with this service are not going to browse thai websites hosted in Thailand. More likely they are banking on an expansion of the international bandwidth. It's true that there is still no way they could offer anyone 1Gbps out of the country, but something reasonable like 100Mbps maybe.

Does anybody know what capacity that new underseas cable will add to Thailand's total? I would imagine it would at least triple existing international bandwidth. If you are already rolling out hugely expensive underseas cables, you are going to go big.

1Gbps only inside Thailand would maybe be interesting for something like video on demand. But who's going to pay 50K baht/month for video on demand? At the current market prices, I could buy 700 DVD movies every month for the same price

Edited January 29, 2008 by nikster

[Jimbo]

You are paying to much for your DVD movies LOL. Going price is only 60 THB a movie.

[Deksan]

Might be good for sharing file with other mates in thailand That s about it for a foreigner

[cali]

As for "international use is not targeted with this" - come on, I don't buy that. That's the opinion of some disgruntled farang.

The guy is correct and not being cynical at all. In simple terms, this project is to unroll a 200km spool of fiber inside Phuket to make it a 1Gbps island, and only Phuket. It does absolutely nothing, 0, zip for international bandwidth. As the "disgruntled farang" says, this will only exacerbate the already woefully inadequate international access. This is truly warp speed to nowhere.

The promise of the technology that I see is the possibility of a hi-def TV service. But since the goal of the project seems to be to fleece wealthy customers for big baht I really doubt it would be competitive with even the sky high prices of true visions satellite packages so how appealing that will be I don't know. It's apparently not even a priority for them as TV will be an afterthought, and the poor international bandwidth so far not even a consideration.

Edited January 29, 2008 by cali

[Gary A]

What does crapstar have to do with TOT? I thought that's owned by yours truly Shin-something.

As for "international use is not targeted with this" - come on, I don't buy that. That's the opinion of some disgruntled farang.

TOT may have horrible service etc but even they have enough sense to know that the people they are targeting with this service are not going to browse thai websites hosted in Thailand. More likely they are banking on an expansion of the international bandwidth. It's true that there is still no way they could offer anyone 1Gbps out of the country, but something reasonable like 100Mbps maybe.

Does anybody know what capacity that new underseas cable will add to Thailand's total? I would imagine it would at least triple existing international bandwidth. If you are already rolling out hugely expensive underseas cables, you are going to go big.

1Gbps only inside Thailand would maybe be interesting for something like video on demand. But who's going to pay 50K baht/month for video on demand? At the current market prices, I could buy 700 DVD movies every month for the same price

I have TOT Crapstar, that's what it has to do with it. Before that I had CS Loxinfo Shitstar.

[nikster]

You are paying to much for your DVD movies LOL. Going price is only 60 THB a movie.

Dam_n I thought 70 was pretty good. But it's DVD9... uh.. mostly. And free return/replacement for bad quality ones..

tx for the update