CAT Telecom Ready To Abandon CDMA

[Thanh-BKK]

High-speed mobile data, at speeds/costs greater than EDGE, has almost no mass-market potential here.

Hello.

Hutch has "MBI" which costs 999 Baht per month if i am informed correctly - that is on EV-DO (1x is cheaper) and UNLIMITED. And CAT offers the same thing even cheaper, 790 Baht per month, again UNLIMITED. It's just that the two are so stupid to compete instead of going together so if you want to use it all over Thailand you'll need BOTH.

But price-wise this is same or cheaper than EDGE and certainly better (read: faster) than EDGE.

The networks here are "free" as in no SIM/operator lock - even on CDMA! You can bring your phone to China or Indonesia, pop in a local CDMA-SIM and it will work, likewise the other way round as i tested with my Indonesian Nokia CDMA phone. SIM-less phones won't work as that is what i mentioned earlier - not Thailand's or Hutch's fault if operators in the U.S.A. or elsewhere don't adapt the new technology with it's possibilities for their customers and instead tie them to their own phones by using the "programmed" ones like 15 years ago.

SIM cards are the only thing that basically differentiates CDMA from GSM - for Joe User that is. Every handset manufacturer would have SIM-supporting CDMA phones in the pipeline if there was demand - and even tough people would certainly buy them, OPERATORS don't implement it (with few exceptions, see Thailand, China, Indonesia).

Pretty much every "most popular" phone is or could be available in a CDMA version - see Motorola V3, the whole Samsung lot and so many Nokias. Some phones are outright twins of GSM ones, so nobody can complain about a "lack of choice". It all comes down to operators bringing them on and giving the folks SIM cards (and yes, one can always online-order them from China - they even offer discounts for bulk orders! Something i was considering to do, but if the Thai operators switch to stone-age technology my future business is over with... Can i sue them for that??).

Best regards.....

Thanh

[Gary A]

It's no wonder that they don't have a bigger customer base. Most people have no idea it is even available up country and Hutch regular connection in Pattaya/Jomtien is certainly nothing to brag about. I had no idea CDMA was available up here so CAT has done nothing to promote it.

[anthos]

many things I agree in the thread

totally agree about the absence of marketing

with a proper marketing and data roaming this CAT/Hutch networks would be a hit a year ago already

I'm wondering if they studied the option to merge tofether and outsorce the marketing and sales to professionals.

by the way, about the equipment

we have a 450Mhz CDMA/EVDO network in Russia (the only country in the world using the frequency)

the company is doing way better than CAT/Hutch despite strong GSM presence,

the EVDO usb modems cost around USD 40

last year they introduced that Ubicam GSM/CDMA phone (however it didn't succeed )

recently they made a dual simcard GSM/CDMA pocket PC (check this out http://www.skylink.ru/pages/equip.aspx?id=14288&r=77)

Yes, I also agree that the coming highspeed GSM will be an upgrade. Higher speeds, more equipment.

And I also hope that CAT network lasts at least for a year so I could enjoy My Moto Q, something tells me that they won't offer to replace it for the same GSM model. I'll report on the case when it comes to me )

[paiinthai]

It's no wonder that they don't have a bigger customer base. Most people have no idea it is even available up country and Hutch regular connection in Pattaya/Jomtien is certainly nothing to brag about. I had no idea CDMA was available up here so CAT has done nothing to promote it.

I just heard about CDMA, (for sure , it is not being promoted at all). I live near Soppong, Bangmapah, Maehongson, which is about 35 K north of Pai. Is CDMA available here, if so how do I get it? Do I use a USB modem or mobile phone? Now I have GPRS through USB cable to phone, AIS and Nokia PC suite, UGH!

Do I use CAT or Hutch for CDMA, or can i use either, which is better, cheaper??

If you cannot answer these questions perhaps you can direct me to a source that can.

Thanks

[dave_boo]

It's no wonder that they don't have a bigger customer base. Most people have no idea it is even available up country and Hutch regular connection in Pattaya/Jomtien is certainly nothing to brag about. I had no idea CDMA was available up here so CAT has done nothing to promote it.

I just heard about CDMA, (for sure , it is not being promoted at all). I live near Soppong, Bangmapah, Maehongson, which is about 35 K north of Pai. Is CDMA available here, if so how do I get it? Do I use a USB modem or mobile phone? Now I have GPRS through USB cable to phone, AIS and Nokia PC suite, UGH!

Do I use CAT or Hutch for CDMA, or can i use either, which is better, cheaper??

If you cannot answer these questions perhaps you can direct me to a source that can.

Thanks

Only CAT CDMA is available to you. If you want the fastest speeds, make sure you get their EV-DO usb stick, or the PCMCIA card. They have the CDMA 1x, which is approximately the same speed as EDGE. However, the 1x cards/usb modules are much cheaper, you'll have to pay in the neighborhood of ~12k Bhat for the EV-DO cards. I'd steer clear of an EV-DO phone (or even a regular CDMA phone) simply because unless you pony up for a data/voice package what are you going to do with the phone?

[nikster]

It's no wonder that they don't have a bigger customer base. Most people have no idea it is even available up country and Hutch regular connection in Pattaya/Jomtien is certainly nothing to brag about. I had no idea CDMA was available up here so CAT has done nothing to promote it.

I just heard about CDMA, (for sure , it is not being promoted at all). I live near Soppong, Bangmapah, Maehongson, which is about 35 K north of Pai. Is CDMA available here, if so how do I get it? Do I use a USB modem or mobile phone? Now I have GPRS through USB cable to phone, AIS and Nokia PC suite, UGH!

Do I use CAT or Hutch for CDMA, or can i use either, which is better, cheaper??

If you cannot answer these questions perhaps you can direct me to a source that can.

Thanks

You go to the CAT head office in Chiang Mai to get the Kit, as dave_boo mentioned it's BHT 12,000 for the USB. They will be able to tell you there whether or not it works in Soppong. Soppoing is really out there, but I have had CDMA work in all sorts of unlikely places in the middle of nowhere between Chiang Mai and BKK, so why not. It's BHT 850/month unlimited, and if it works in soppong it will be super fast compared to EDGE since you'll be the only person using it. Just don't make the mistake I made and tell everyone about it - claim it's EDGE! kidding, many ppl have it now where I live but doesn't seem to impact speed so far.

[Gary A]

Several months ago I was excited about CDMA EVDO. Unfortunately or maybe fortunately my area had no CDMA coverage. The Loei CAT office promised that my area would have coverage within three months. I have no idea if that has happened. They had promised to contact me but that didn't happen either. The big question is if or when they are going to pull the plug.

[WHITESAND]

My wife just bought a hutch phone an simcard from cat because for 349 baht a month you can have free unlimited calls from 8 am-8pm for 12 months. Sounded to good to be true does this mean it will cease to work soon (in the next year)?

[MaxLee]

So, can anybody tell me in the short version what it means for us Internet users in Thailand?????

[Gary A]

So, can anybody tell me in the short version what it means for us Internet users in Thailand?????

That indeed remains the BIG question. I don't think anyone knows. My guess is that one day the service will simply quit working. TIT! They can do anything they want.