Thailand's CAT Builds Bt6bn Fibre-Optic Network

[webfact]

'CONNECTED' HOMES

CAT builds Bt6bn fibre-optic network

By Asina Pornwasin

The Nation

High-speed Internet, TV, phone for 400,000 households

BANGKOK: -- By early next year, people in Bangkok will be able to enjoy what CAT Telecom is calling its "Triple Play" - high-speed Internet, television and telephone - all from one connection to a new fibre-optic cable network.

The state agency is planning to deploy a fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network costing Bt6 billion in Bangkok and three neighbouring provinces - Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani and Samut Prakan - with 400,000 "ports", or home connections.

CAT Telecom's corporate policy manager Sirote Ratanamahatana said the Cabinet approved the agency's FTTP investment plan late in April.

The plan includes laying down the fibre-optic network throughout Bangkok and the neighbouring provinces with the aim of providing all 400,000 ports within the next three years. As well as the physical network, the main costs will include node equipment, modems and network-management equipment.

The first connections to the new FTTH service are expected to be made early next year, and CAT Telecom aims to have at least 50,000 users by the end of 2011.

Sirote said CAT Telecom would offer the service directly to users. The two initial high-speed Internet service packages will cost Bt1,500 per month for 25 Megabits (Mbps) per second and Bt2,000 per month for 100 Mbps.

"This is the primary service, but if users want the Triple Play service they can add television and telephone at an extra cost. This will depend on how our marketing team designs the Triple Play or bundled packages," he said.

CAT Telecom's marketing strategy is to offer not only the high-speed Internet service, but to team up with business partners - content providers - to provide bundled services which will increase the average revenue per unit of its customers.

"While we are on track to implement the FTTH network in Bangkok and the other three provinces, we have also implemented some FTTH infrastructure in some areas of other provinces, such as Phuket, Chiang Mai and Chon Buri," Sirote said.

CAT Telecom is also planning to implement FTTH networks in 10 provinces throughout the country in parallel with its roll out in Bangkok, Nonthaburi. Pathum Thani and Samut Prakan.

"In provincial areas, we will not invest on our own, but will use the FTTH networks of others to deliver our services. With this model, we expect to begin offering FTTH services in those 10 provinces late this year," Sirote said.

He said the investment cost in FTTH networks was about Bt25,000 per port. So if every one of Bangkok's 4 million households wanted an FTTH service, the investment required in order to provide it would be about Bt100 billion.

While most Bangkok people have never before experienced an FTTH service, people in some provinces, such as Chon Buri, have had such services for several years. In Chon Buri, pioneer FTTH service provider Miracle Wave offers a fibre-optic service in Laem Chabang district.

Miracle Wave's managing director Tanongsak Padporm said his company had offered FTTH services for almost two years. In the first year the service was free of charge. Commercial services began early last year. Currently, Miracle Wave has about 700 customers. Its main services are high-speed Internet connection plus Wi-Fi (with 300 Wi-Fi access points throughout Laem Chabang), video on demand and Internet-protocol television.

The cost of Miracle Wave's services range from Bt590 per month for 4Mbps to Bt1,490 per month for 10Mbps and Bt3,500 per month for 30Mbps. This does not include an implementation fee of Bt1,000 and an equipment-guarantee fee of Bt3,900.

"We expect to have 3,000 customers by the end of this year, while our FTTH network will support up to 10,000 ports. We plan to invest more if the demand increases. By the end of this year, we will also expand our network to offer FTTH services to people in Pattaya as well," Tanongsak said.

-- The Nation 2010-06-08

[Crossy]

I want it NOW!!!!!!!

I'll even pay the 25K for the port.

Sadly, although Pathum Thani is one of the provinces in the initial deployment we're a bit off the beaten track, I don't see getting anything over my rather sad 512/256 in my lifetime

[ukrules]

This is excellent news, maybe one day they will even get a good international connection that can handle all these new users along with the existing users.

[horndevil]

This is excellent news, maybe one day they will even get a good international connection that can handle all these new users along with the existing users.

Excited but wont hold my breath... CAT has a long history of offering sub par service and products

[thaibkk]

the future is comming to thailand... but... if the big bottleneck is still access to international sites, than it is pretty.... USELESS

100 mbit in thailand, 0.5 to the next of the world

[shaunoro]

I can do that if CAT need help.

[MattCinderey]

Agree with thaibkk, it's pointless having 100mbit within Thailand if they don't pay for International bandwidth! Well for us Farang's anyway...

[quiksilva]

Sign me up, Im in Nonthaburi... although TOT have a cursed monopoly in my area. They refuse to grant TRUE et al a license to provide services in my area..hopefully it doesn't apply to Fibre Optics

[CosmicSurfer]

I'll believe it when I see it !!!!!!

CS

[rabo]

Agree with thaibkk, it's pointless having 100mbit within Thailand if they don't pay for International bandwidth! Well for us Farang's anyway...

I see the opinion has been posted several times. Yes, 25MB to the door is pretty useless with so many bottlenecks elsewhere. Anyone with 1 or 2 MB to the home already knows that. It's not just the international gateway, overseas source servers can be slow, too.

The way it is, not much you can do except hang out at TV.

[hardy1943]

This is excellent news, maybe one day they will even get a good international connection that can handle all these new users along with the existing users.

I guess better late then never .Welcome to the 21st Century

[Artey]

sounds too good to be true, i'll believe it when i c it.

also, if this were true, what would happen to the existing adsl prices?

[seri thai]

the future is comming to thailand... but... if the big bottleneck is still access to international sites, than it is pretty.... USELESS

100 mbit in thailand, 0.5 to the next of the world

As a fine upstanding thai citizen WHY would you want to communicate with the rest of the world?

It'll be fine for multi-chatting with your indispensible circle of friends on Cam-Frog or swapping photos of your latest prized lap-dog and it's accessories. The outside world is pernicious,dangerous, corrupting and full of novel ideas.

Keep it safe, keep it Thai!

p.s to George and the Mods-I like the new interface:)

[geovalin]

the future is comming to thailand... but... if the big bottleneck is still access to international sites, than it is pretty.... USELESS

100 mbit in thailand, 0.5 to the next of the world

You are a little bit unfair.

With TRUE, in Bangkok, if you pay for 4 MB, you have 4 with USA. If you pay for 6, you have 6 with USA. speakeasy.net is impartial.

[Asianrider]

Fingers crossed this happens, and gets rolled out everywhere. The cynic in me thinks that they struggle with water and electric supply, fibre optics will be a slow rollout unless there is a lot of profit in it for them. There must be a lot of Thai users screaming for better international bandwith access too.

[David006]

While fibre to the business or building is a fact and viable.....one has to ask WHY FTTH....many FTTH/FTTC various technology projects and field trials worldwide have been abandoned (unless something has changed substantially)as not economically viable. (okay there are a few still up and running in high end subdivisions etc..) ....while the general trend seems to be hi speed wireless broadband.

There are just so many issues to be overcome....

Who will pay for the O to E electronics in the home ?

How is it to be powered in the home..hybrid fibre copper cables or??

What happens when the power goes off? Batteries have to be maintained!

I think this will fade into the ether unless it's all about politics and funding manipulation...

[chirunr]

All these plans for elegant infrastructure are well and good; but what is the point when the corporate philosophy seems to be nothing more than "cheat the customer"?

Early this year, I signed up for CAT Telecom's "Premium" internet service, at a cost of 1,790 per month, paying one year in advance. For three weeks, they utterly failed to provide even minimal service. After repeated calls to them, four visits to their office, and generally being given the runaround, I finally realized that they could not, or would not, fulfill their contractural obligation. So I asked for cancellation of the contract, to which CAT Telecom immediately agreed. BUT . . . they refused to issue a refund of the money I had paid them -- the sum of 20,685.24 baht -- citing as justification for cheating me the "NO REFUND" admonition in the signature block of the charge slip.

After five months of wrangling with them, with the assistance of the US bank who issued the VISA card that I used for payment, CAT Telecom grudgingly made a refund to me of almost 18,000 baht.

What would have happened if I had paid cash; or used a VISA card issued by a Thai bank; or had been unwilling to confront them with their dishonest behavior? I suspect that I would have to learn to smile a lot, and to live with my loss.

So let them build their super-duper network. They will never again get one more satang from this customer, no matter how glowing their promises.

[bubba]

This is a fine example of putting the cart before the horse. International bandwidth gateways are already a huge bottleneck. All of us suffer from poor international connections and we rarely get anything close to the bandwidth for which we pay. Adding on hundreds of thousands of subscribers with 25Mbps will only make things worse.

This is useless for 90% of internet traffic. As the largest international gateway operator, CAT's logic defies reality. According to NECTEC, in February 2010, the TOTAL international bandwidth for Thailand was 137,314 Mbps, shared by CAT and all other internet providers.

Internet Users and Statistics in Thailand

And CAT are planning to add 50,000 25Mbps connections by the end of next year, with 350,000 more to come? I think we can all do the maths on that one...

By the way, don't bother looking at CAT's international gateway capacity data on their web site. They haven't updated their page with those data since August 2008.

Internet Service Center :: CAT Telecom Public Co., Ltd. ::

[alant]

i know others havee said it but i cant see it happening for anyone outside of the greater bangkok area. what benefit does it bring? does it help grow rice - no

[mythBuster]

I want it NOW!!!!!!!

I'll even pay the 25K for the port.

Sadly, although Pathum Thani is one of the provinces in the initial deployment we're a bit off the beaten track, I don't see getting anything over my rather sad 512/256 in my lifetime

Hmm maybe it is quite a few years ago that you went to the TOT office. Even in the Middle of nowhere TOT offers 12MB speeds down and 1 MB up for 1500 baht or so. Just go there. Even when you are rather far of an exchange you still can get 8MB/1MB.

The sad thing with these kinds of projects is that the government has no clue about what they do. They are too busy stealing money from the people. Bhumjaithai is pocketing billions in road projects which could have spend to narrow the digital divide. If violenc flares up again next year, they will say Ich habe es nicht gewust.

[Valentine]

I want it NOW!!!!!!!

I'll even pay the 25K for the port.

Sadly, although Pathum Thani is one of the provinces in the initial deployment we're a bit off the beaten track, I don't see getting anything over my rather sad 512/256 in my lifetime

Hmm maybe it is quite a few years ago that you went to the TOT office. Even in the Middle of nowhere TOT offers 12MB speeds down and 1 MB up for 1500 baht or so. Just go there. Even when you are rather far of an exchange you still can get 8MB/1MB.

The sad thing with these kinds of projects is that the government has no clue about what they do. They are too busy stealing money from the people. Bhumjaithai is pocketing billions in road projects which could have spend to narrow the digital divide. If violenc flares up again next year, they will say Ich habe es nicht gewust.

Now that the nurse has gone the new ICT minister might have more clue about modern technology.

[horndevil]

I want it NOW!!!!!!!

I'll even pay the 25K for the port.

Sadly, although Pathum Thani is one of the provinces in the initial deployment we're a bit off the beaten track, I don't see getting anything over my rather sad 512/256 in my lifetime

Hmm maybe it is quite a few years ago that you went to the TOT office. Even in the Middle of nowhere TOT offers 12MB speeds down and 1 MB up for 1500 baht or so. Just go there. Even when you are rather far of an exchange you still can get 8MB/1MB.

The sad thing with these kinds of projects is that the government has no clue about what they do. They are too busy stealing money from the people. Bhumjaithai is pocketing billions in road projects which could have spend to narrow the digital divide. If violenc flares up again next year, they will say Ich habe es nicht gewust.

Now that the nurse has gone the new ICT minister might have more clue about modern technology.

that will be the day

[hjvdhoef]

Do you believe that?Then you believe everything.

[MarleyMarl]

the future is comming to thailand... but... if the big bottleneck is still access to international sites, than it is pretty.... USELESS

100 mbit in thailand, 0.5 to the next of the world

You are a little bit unfair.

With TRUE, in Bangkok, if you pay for 4 MB, you have 4 with USA. If you pay for 6, you have 6 with USA. speakeasy.net is impartial.

That's not right at all.

[hhiser]

i know others havee said it but i cant see it happening for anyone outside of the greater bangkok area. what benefit does it bring? does it help grow rice - no

I am really sick of the only in Bangkok mentality. There is a considerable proportion of the population of Thailand which live outside the metropolitan area. Besides if you provide the people in the North and Northeast of Thailand access to a high speed network (and unblock some types of websites) maybe they will develop a preoccupation with something other than the current political situation.

[hungryhippo]

I am really sick of the only in Bangkok mentality. There is a considerable proportion of the population of Thailand which live outside the metropolitan area. Besides if you provide the people in the North and Northeast of Thailand access to a high speed network (and unblock some types of websites) maybe they will develop a preoccupation with something other than the current political situation.

The same thing happens the world over. This kind of stuff always happens in cities first because of the population per square km is higher. It's not something I'd get upset about personally.

[horndevil]

I am really sick of the only in Bangkok mentality. There is a considerable proportion of the population of Thailand which live outside the metropolitan area. Besides if you provide the people in the North and Northeast of Thailand access to a high speed network (and unblock some types of websites) maybe they will develop a preoccupation with something other than the current political situation.

The same thing happens the world over. This kind of stuff always happens in cities first because of the population per square km is higher. It's not something I'd get upset about personally.

agreed and besides you first go where the money is...

[Jimi007]

I just tested my CAT 4 Mbs down and 500kbs up to Singapore and:

Download Speed: 1360 kbps (170 KB/sec transfer rate)

Upload Speed: 301 kbps (37.6 KB/sec transfer rate)

Latency: 397 ms

June 8, 2010 12:18:33 PM

Not close to what I'm paying for... So, I'm not too sure CAT can do much of anything right.

[Pui]

the future is comming to thailand... but... if the big bottleneck is still access to international sites, than it is pretty.... USELESS

100 mbit in thailand, 0.5 to the next of the world

You are a little bit unfair.

With TRUE, in Bangkok, if you pay for 4 MB, you have 4 with USA. If you pay for 6, you have 6 with USA. speakeasy.net is impartial.

Yes I agree.

Currently I pay Bt2,000 per month for 16 Mbps with TRUE. This is their top service from what I can gather.

The speed to websites outside of Thailand is considerably less than 1 Mbps. It can take 20 to 40 seconds per page.

So I pay for 16 and don't get 1. if i call and "select 9 for English" it goes to a recorded message.

Bt2,000 per month for 100 Mbps. Sounds wonderful but will it benefit internet users.

By comparison

Hong have got 1000mbps (1gbps) for $26 USD a month.

Who's #1 in broadband? 1Gbps fiber for $26 in Hong Kong

[SomTumTiger]

the future is comming to thailand... but... if the big bottleneck is still access to international sites, than it is pretty.... USELESS

100 mbit in thailand, 0.5 to the next of the world

You are a little bit unfair.

With TRUE, in Bangkok, if you pay for 4 MB, you have 4 with USA. If you pay for 6, you have 6 with USA. speakeasy.net is impartial.

Yes I agree.

Currently I pay Bt2,000 per month for 16 Mbps with TRUE. This is their top service from what I can gather.

The speed to websites outside of Thailand is considerably less than 1 Mbps. It can take 20 to 40 seconds per page.

So I pay for 16 and don't get 1. if i call and "select 9 for English" it goes to a recorded message.

Bt2,000 per month for 100 Mbps. Sounds wonderful but will it benefit internet users.

By comparison

Hong have got 1000mbps (1gbps) for $26 USD a month.

Who's #1 in broadband? 1Gbps fiber for $26 in Hong Kong

I have True 4mbs and never have to wait more than a few seconds for a page to load. Maybe its your phone line quality?