Is 3g Mobile Internet Up & Working In Thailand Yet?

[jackbox]

True has permission from CAT to to a 3G "trial" on frequencies CAT originally licensed to DTAC.

I'd hardly say the CAT - True deal is a 'trial" anymore unless I am misunderstanding things in the news?

The deal is for 14 years and will see CAT using True's RealMove to provide countrywide 3G HSPA data services on CAT 850Mhz frequency. I also presume, since many phone manufacturers like HTC don't even have 850Mhz HSPA capable phones on the market in Asia, users will be limited on what products they can buy besides the iPhone.

http://www.asianewsnet.net/home/news.php?id=17411

Many of 3G phones sold here have 850 Mhz capability. The Edge and 3G radios in the phones are separate chips. For instance, the two 3G phones sold by WellcoM (A88 and A99) work with True 3G. If you check specifications before you buy other phones on the market have 850 Mhz 3G capability as well. Some such as the Galaxy S don't have the 850 Mhz band and have 900 Mhz instead. Kind of silly when you consider how small the AIS 3G area is. Since Samsung makes other Galaxy S variants, such as the AT&T Captivate, with this band it seems making the devices sold in Thailand capable with it would be a better business decision. For some reason most phones being sold only have tri-band 3G radios so they choose 850 or 900. Hopefully in the future more companies will make quadband or pentaband 3G devices. One new Nokia (I forget the model number) has a pentaband (5 band) 3G radio and suports both 850 and 900 Mhz.

[Digitalbanana]

Many of 3G phones sold here have 850 Mhz capability. The Edge and 3G radios in the phones are separate chips. For instance, the two 3G phones sold by WellcoM (A88 and A99) work with True 3G. If you check specifications before you buy other phones on the market have 850 Mhz 3G capability as well. Some such as the Galaxy S don't have the 850 Mhz band and have 900 Mhz instead. Kind of silly when you consider how small the AIS 3G area is. Since Samsung makes other Galaxy S variants, such as the AT&T Captivate, with this band it seems making the devices sold in Thailand capable with it would be a better business decision. For some reason most phones being sold only have tri-band 3G radios so they choose 850 or 900. Hopefully in the future more companies will make quadband or pentaband 3G devices. One new Nokia (I forget the model number) has a pentaband (5 band) 3G radio and suports both 850 and 900 Mhz.

Yes I would expect WellcoM products to work in Thailand since they are headquartered there. Apples iPhone also fits the spec. Some of the other big smartphones players in Asia who make what might be considered more desirable products such as HTC, LG, Samsung don't offer radios to meet Thailand's quirky 3G infrastructure, whereas they work in neighboring countries that have all adopted the 900/2100Mhz HSPA spectrum. I wonder what these big phone players will do? At the moment I don't think HTC has a single model to fit the proposed CAT - True network, not sure about LG or Samsung.

[jackbox]

HTC has models that will work with True 3G but they are sold in other countries. For example the Nexus One (part number ending in "110") was made for AT&T's 3G band so it supports 850 Mhz. You have to be careful though as the original Nexus One (part number ends in "100") was made for T-Mobile USA's 3G bands and support 900, 1700 and 2100 Mhz support; hence it will work on AIS 3G. Any phone sold by AT&T USA that has 3G capability works with True 3G. Some BlackBerry models, such as the 9700, come in two flavors. One works with AIS 3G and the other works with True/DTAC 3G. For example if you want a Galaxy S that works with True 3G, get yourself the Samsung Captivate Galaxy S made exclusively for AT&T USA. It has better styling, in my opinion, then the Galaxy S sold in Thailand, and has 850, 1900, 2100 Mhz 3G so it works with True's 3G. They can be easily unlocked for use on any cellular system. If you have a friend in the USA you have them buy you a second hand unit and send to you. Note that virtually all 3G phones support 2100 Mhz so anything you buy will work on TOT3G's system. 2100 Mhz is the main standard for Europe but frequencies do vary in other parts of the world. In the USA for example, T-Mobile uses 1700 Mhz and AT&T uses 850 Mhz primarily for their 3G services.

Edited March 23, 2011 by jackbox

[lomatopo]

True 3G phones and aircards/mifi devices. True, to their credit, have focused on just a few 3G end-points having great success with the iPhone. Only recently have they added an Android phone, the Milestone. There probably isn't much more room for other 850 models given the cost to launch. WellcoM made a great decision on 850/900/2100.

The Aria is about the only AT&T/HTC model which supports 850 and 1900 only.

It seems like there are cheap 850/1900/2100 radio chips and cheap 900/2100 radio chips, while only a few models, like the Nokia N8 and iPhone 4 support 850/900/1900/2100. AIS were the local launch partner for the Samsung Galaxy S so they obviously didn't want an 850 version here.

The Samsung Galaxy S2 is supposed to have a 850/900/1900/2100 radio so that should be interesting.

I specifically bought a Samsung Captivate for the 850/1900/2100 3G capability. Of course the cost (12,000 baht), screen, design, style, feel, developer support (I think 2 million units sold in the U.S.; 5 million worldwide for the Galaxy S + variants), performance were a pleasant surprise.

[jackbox]

WellcoM made a great decision on 850/900/2100.

WellcoM phones are not 850/900/2100. The UMTS (3G) bands they support are 850/1900/2100, so it will work with True or DTAC on 3G but not AIS. These phones are made by a big Taiwanese ODM called Foxconn (they make the iPhone and phones for Moto, HTC, basically everyone). They are two versions of their in-house designed hardware available. A company can buy custom branded devices on either 850/1900/2100 or 900/1900/2100. Since WellcoM has a partnership with TrueMove to give away a free SIM with every SmartPhone purchased and True stores are some of the only outlets for WellcoM devices, WellcoM orders their devices with 850/1900/2100. You can see for yourself on WellcoM's product pages for the A88 and A99. Of course, companies such as HTC and Moto can order whatever they want and Foxconn will buy the appropriate radio chip (for example T-Mobile USA devices requiring 1700 Mhz) but the orders from companies such as WellcoM are simply too small for any customizations other than recompiling the OS to brand it and add a few custom apps, and brand the outside of the device, battery, box and user's manual.

A88: http://www.wellcommobile.com/android/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51&Itemid=18

A99: http://www.wellcommobile.com/android/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=64&Itemid=29

Edited March 23, 2011 by jackbox

[lomatopo]

WellcoM phones are not 850/900/2100. The UMTS (3G) bands they support are 850/1900/2100,

Thanks for correcting my typo (slipped digit). Obviously I meant to type "1900", not "900".

Since WellcoM supports 2100 they work on TOT 3G and their MVNOs. That's what I meant by WellcoM making a good choice; they can address the bulk of the installed 3G network with True (850 Mhz) and 500+ base stations, and TOT (2100 Mhz) with 500+ base stations.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

WellcoM phones are not 850/900/2100. The UMTS (3G) bands they support are 850/1900/2100,

Thanks for correcting my typo (slipped digit). Obviously I meant to type "1900", not "900".

Since WellcoM supports 2100 they work on TOT 3G and their MVNOs. That's what I meant by WellcoM making a good choice; they can address the bulk of the installed 3G network with True (850 Mhz) and 500+ base stations, and TOT (2100 Mhz) with 500+ base stations.

Using an old Huawei E160. Cost £10 in the UK.

UK user may find they still have them. O2 used to supply them, unlocked. T-Mobile supplied them as T-Mobile Broadband USB Stick 110.

You may still be able to track them down for around £20.

That way it may be possible to access 3G in the tourist areas, such as Samui, Pattaya, Phuket etc for a little less than purchasing in Thailand. Expect to pay between 1500 and 2000 baht for a suitable modem in Thailand.

[wpcoe]

The whole 3G set-up in Thailand seems like a house of cards, what with the current "trials" not being advertised as such. With all the info online and in the shops, nothing indicates that 3G service by a particular carrier might be a "trial" and hence "temporary."

[Crushdepth]

There was talk of someone wanting to set up a 4G trial the other day

[PooMik]

www.tot3g.net

Have to look this : http://www.sim-3g.com

[lomatopo]

HTC has models that will work with True 3G but they are sold in other countries.

FWIW, HTC/Thailand just launched a refresh on the Desire and Wildfire, HTC Desire S and HTC Wildfire S both now come with WCDMA 850/2100. (The Incredible S looks like a T-Mo/USA grey-market so 900/1700/2100 3G) maybe best to steer clear of that?).