Thai Schools Nationwide To Get Free Wireless Internet

[webfact]

Schools to get free wireless Internet

By USANEE MONGKOLPORN

Some 45,000 schools across the country will be hooked up to high-speed wireless Internet connections for free once the long-awaited 3G cellular service is up and running.

That is a requirement for winners of third-generation mobile licences using the 2.1-gigahertz spectrum, the National Telecommunications Com-mission (NTC) said.

Successful bidders and licensees would have to provide a connection speed of 2 megabits per second to all these schools at no charge for five years.

The NTC will sign a memorandum of understanding with the Education Ministry to promote the project jointly. The ministry will develop content for the schools in the project and group them into three clusters, starting with those the most technically ready, already equipped with computers and technical staff.

The other two clusters are those with available facilities but some technical limitations and those in remote areas inaccessible by Internet infrastructure, with no computers and no technical staff.

This will help eventual 3G licence holders to provide the schools with what they need.

The school project is part of the NTC's draft regulations on universal service obligations (USO) specifically for 3G licensees.

NTC member Suranan Wongvitha-yakamjorn said the NTC would consider the draft rules soon.

As part of the draft, the three licence winners will each provide broadband Internet access to 15,000 schools nationwide within five years and not charge them for 60 months.

The NTC will auction three licences to use the 2.1GHz spectrum to provide 3G wireless broadband service next month. Advanced Info Service (AIS), Total Access Communication (DTAC) and TrueMove are all expected to take part in the bidding.

The NTC's existing USO regulations require all major licensees to develop telecom services in remote areas. If they do not want to do that by themselves, they can pay 4 per cent of their revenue to the USO Fund for the NTC to hire others to do the job.

Suranan thinks the 3G providers will not likely find it difficult to follow the requirement, since they will have to roll out their 3G networks nationwide anyway.

The 3G licensing regulations require licence holders to start offering the service within one year from the date of obtaining their licence, and provide services in all provinces covering at least 50 per cent of the population within two years and at least 80 per cent within four years.

The NTC wants to see telecom operators maximising the use of their frequencies, which are the country's valuable natural resource, to serve society and bridge the digital divide.

The NTC is making several attempts to promote equal access to affordable wireless broadband. It has drafted a plan to grant province-level licences to use the 2.5GHz spectrum to offer wireless broadband service in remote areas. It might require licence winners initially to promote the service for Bt99 a month at a connection speed of 1 megabit per second.

-- The Nation 2010-08-13

[artbottomup]

That would be wonderful if it really happens for all schools nationwide. However, I wonder if the some 45,000 school to get wireless 3G internet includes those village schools in Isaan where even ADSL is not available and the only option is ipstar satellite slow internet connection? I live in a very rural area near one of these schools in Renu Nakhon, Nakhon Phanom where the cable infrastructure does not exist so no other option except satellite for the school & my home. Let's see if the 3G network truly covers all areas so rural schools will have this mandate fulfilled...

[rubl]

That would be wonderful if it really happens for all schools nationwide. However, I wonder if the some 45,000 school to get wireless 3G internet includes those village schools in Isaan where even ADSL is not available and the only option is ipstar satellite slow internet connection? I live in a very rural area near one of these schools in Renu Nakhon, Nakhon Phanom where the cable infrastructure does not exist so no other option except satellite for the school & my home. Let's see if the 3G network truly covers all areas so rural schools will have this mandate fulfilled...

Years ago all schools got an (overpriced) computer and many didn't know what to do with them. Has that improved already?

Edited August 13, 2010 by rubl

[SomTumTiger]

All the farang armchair PM's think this is a bad idea? Must be a good thing.

[MaiChai]

Sounds a bit naff giving each school a single 3G connection? Imagine an IT lab with 20 computers trying to access the internet over a single 3G connection? Sounds like the government techocrat who thought this up has a high expectation of 3G. Assuming a perfect connection, a single connection will provide 7.5 mb/s download (3.5G HSPDA). Now we folks who are used to 3G in more advanced economies know that 3G is very bursty and is at the mercy of distance from base station, bottlenecks in the mobile network and competing connections on the same base station. Rural areas are not going to have 3G immediatly, and will most likely be on the outer most edge of a Mobile Switching Centre, thus having the least performance...

Most schools will already have ADSL or access to it; in this scenario it makes no sense in hooking up the school to this 3G scheme! Hopefully the schools/techocrats will have the sense to make the right technical solution rather than wasting tax payers/mobile phone companies time and money.

[way2muchcoffee]

Sounds a bit naff giving each school a single 3G connection? Imagine an IT lab with 20 computers trying to access the internet over a single 3G connection? Sounds like the government techocrat who thought this up has a high expectation of 3G. Assuming a perfect connection, a single connection will provide 7.5 mb/s download (3.5G HSPDA). Now we folks who are used to 3G in more advanced economies know that 3G is very bursty and is at the mercy of distance from base station, bottlenecks in the mobile network and competing connections on the same base station. Rural areas are not going to have 3G immediatly, and will most likely be on the outer most edge of a Mobile Switching Centre, thus having the least performance...

Most schools will already have ADSL or access to it; in this scenario it makes no sense in hooking up the school to this 3G scheme! Hopefully the schools/techocrats will have the sense to make the right technical solution rather than wasting tax payers/mobile phone companies time and money.

A single 3G connection may not be suitable to run an IT class, but it would definitely be useful for teachers working in areas with no internet access. It would allow teachers to access the wealth of educational websites and information on the web.

[Piengrudee]

Edited August 13, 2010 by Piengrudee

[jonclark]

'...This will help eventual 3G licence holders to provide the schools with what they need....'<br><br>So that will be teachers then.<br><br>Seriously though a good idea, but give that most schools have aging teachers who are fast approaching retirement age and have little interest in IT or changing their tried and tested teaching methods, I doubt many teachers have the motivation or skills to exploit 3G. <br><br>In the day when i taught the only people who used IT in the class rooms were the Western English teachers, still this should make their job a bit easier. Most Thai teachers stood at the board, talked and wrote with the students copying. <br><br>Most schools need new motivated well trained teachers to replace those leaving. Not a gimic so the MoE feels on par with Singaporean schools<br>

[seaeagle]

Some Thai schools in the "Thaksin-influenced" north haven't even implemented the Abhisit free-education package.

Sadly, another initiative that I doubt it's worth holding breath for.

[RKASA]

Wireless is not a solution - it will just delay the real solution. High capacity optic cables deliver 100's of times more content - making it cost less over time in terms of investment, value and usefulness and it provides connectivity to more then the just a chosen few. Then you can connect the local police station and other government outlets as well as have paying customers to provide some return.

They have wireless on the brain because sales people run IT in Thailand and not the engineers.

They are just using the schools and children as an excuse to make money on contracts.

[x5david]

Now if they will just install some filtering to keep kids in high school from surfing porn at school.

[Phatcharanan]

Sounds a bit naff giving each school a single 3G connection? Imagine an IT lab with 20 computers trying to access the internet over a single 3G connection?

Most schools will already have ADSL or access to it; in this scenario it makes no sense in hooking up the school to this 3G scheme!

What the smart teachers will do is to download to their own computer, the lessons, videos and other resources for the next days studies and then broadcast those to the students.

This is still a step in the right direction.

[naboo]

The NTC will auction three licences to use the 2.1GHz spectrum to provide 3G wireless broadband service next month. Advanced Info Service (AIS), Total Access Communication (DTAC) and TrueMove are all expected to take part in the bidding.

So the three current cellular network providers are going to fight it out for 3 licenses. I see the government won't be making any money off this!

In the UK, there were 4 established providers at the time of bidding. They set up 5 licenses and invited countries from abroad to participate in the auctions. After over 100 rounds of bidding, none of the original bidders had dropped out and the government made many times as much money selling these licenses than expected. If I was DTAC, I'd be bidding 25 satang for each license, they've got to win one!

[MaiChai]

I see ToT already has 3G? Since they are such a lousy commercial organisation they get I-Mobile to brand/market it. We got a 3G SIM yesterday from I-Mobile; had to put a TOT APN in to get it to work. Not really tested it yet since we get 2 bars signal strength in the house (and we don't need it in the house as our Android phones automatically hook into the Wifi). Does seem to work fine (our HTC G1s have the latest radio firmware and download is very fast when used on UK networks). What seemed naff was all the paperwork to get the SIM; I guess ToT bureaucracy at work. I said to the gf; if you don't pay they will cut you off, so whats the point of all the paperwork? Maybe they want the option of tracing you if you download something illegal/not politically correct? Will give it a better test when out and about (have some items on ebay I am watching ). So far seems good around urban Bangkok.

This 3G auctioning makes little sense. Surely the incumbent operators should have the right to upgrade and keep their infrastructure up to date by providing a 3G service? Makes no sense at all that they can't keep up to date with technology and a new vendor comes along, wins a concession and has to build all the base stations and infrastructure from scratch? Government should offer an upgrade license fee for the existing operators; otherwise this type of auction is going to cost us alot (we the consumers). The days of huge mobile company profits are over and we are living in a different economic climate. Everyone is looking to save money, whether you buy a decent phone off ebay or look for the most cost effective contract.

Edited August 13, 2010 by MaiChai

[rubl]

Sounds a bit naff giving each school a single 3G connection? Imagine an IT lab with 20 computers trying to access the internet over a single 3G connection? Sounds like the government techocrat who thought this up has a high expectation of 3G. Assuming a perfect connection, a single connection will provide 7.5 mb/s download (3.5G HSPDA). Now we folks who are used to 3G in more advanced economies know that 3G is very bursty and is at the mercy of distance from base station, bottlenecks in the mobile network and competing connections on the same base station. Rural areas are not going to have 3G immediatly, and will most likely be on the outer most edge of a Mobile Switching Centre, thus having the least performance...

Most schools will already have ADSL or access to it; in this scenario it makes no sense in hooking up the school to this 3G scheme! Hopefully the schools/techocrats will have the sense to make the right technical solution rather than wasting tax payers/mobile phone companies time and money.

A single 3G connection may not be suitable to run an IT class, but it would definitely be useful for teachers working in areas with no internet access. It would allow teachers to access the wealth of educational websites and information on the web.

If investigations indicate the poor (knowledge) level of teachers in rural areas, how come anyone thinks they know how to properly use computers, or even know how to find good educational material on the internet? Even teaching plain Thai language seems to be a problem. 3G? From what I hear lots of Thai will keep away from it, too pricy.

[yellow1red1]

Now if they will just install some filtering to keep kids in high school from surfing porn at school.

even worse they might start learning about the world from the few websites not yet blocked, and begin to practise free speech

[chantorn]

590 Baht/month gets the school a 5Mbits. What's the big fuzz?

[zaphodbeeblebrox]

For some schools, especially the ones in rural areas, free wi-fi access will be a blessing. For schools in more affluent parts of Thailand, I smell a disaster brewing.

I work at a school in an affluent part of Thailand. Most of the students have laptops. I have noticed a substantial decrease in attention span because the kids are spending all of their time playing computer games. I don't think the social sites like hi5 and facebook (as well as porn) are as much of a problem as these networked games like Counterstrike (a first person shooter). The loss of attention span resulting from video game play is much greater than that caused by just watching TV and has been documented by several studies.

So, I think this is a mixed blessing. Good for the students in rural areas who will be able to access more information and research, but could present a big problem for more affluent kids who are not interested in learning and are only interested in using their laptops for gaming.

Look at it this way. Remember how thrilled you were in school, when your teacher brought in a film projector or TV for the students to watch, as opposed to the usual lecture? The kids at my school all put their heads down when you try to show them even a short video, in fact, even a music video. They don't want to do anything but play on the internet or play their networked games. Their access to the internet has destroyed their interest in learning.

Just my personal thoughts, based on my experience as a teacher in Thailand.

[way2muchcoffee]

For some schools, especially the ones in rural areas, free wi-fi access will be a blessing. For schools in more affluent parts of Thailand, I smell a disaster brewing.

I work at a school in an affluent part of Thailand. Most of the students have laptops. I have noticed a substantial decrease in attention span because the kids are spending all of their time playing computer games. I don't think the social sites like hi5 and facebook (as well as porn) are as much of a problem as these networked games like Counterstrike (a first person shooter). The loss of attention span resulting from video game play is much greater than that caused by just watching TV and has been documented by several studies.

So, I think this is a mixed blessing. Good for the students in rural areas who will be able to access more information and research, but could present a big problem for more affluent kids who are not interested in learning and are only interested in using their laptops for gaming.

Look at it this way. Remember how thrilled you were in school, when your teacher brought in a film projector or TV for the students to watch, as opposed to the usual lecture? The kids at my school all put their heads down when you try to show them even a short video, in fact, even a music video. They don't want to do anything but play on the internet or play their networked games. Their access to the internet has destroyed their interest in learning.

Just my personal thoughts, based on my experience as a teacher in Thailand.

Isn't that more of a parenting issue?

[dhrobertson]

That would be wonderful if it really happens for all schools nationwide. However, I wonder if the some 45,000 school to get wireless 3G internet includes those village schools in Isaan where even ADSL is not available and the only option is ipstar satellite slow internet connection? I live in a very rural area near one of these schools in Renu Nakhon, Nakhon Phanom where the cable infrastructure does not exist so no other option except satellite for the school & my home. Let's see if the 3G network truly covers all areas so rural schools will have this mandate fulfilled...

This is good news indeed. Certainly a start.

Our house is at Ban Pong, just the otherside of That from Renu Nakhon. I got a wireless modem from CAT in Nakhon Phanom together with a wireless router. This gives internet connection for all of us (including the TV decoder). We tend to get inundated with local kids using the connection which is just fine by me. Telephone lines are just not available outside the main towns.

One of the best moves Abhisit could make right now is to use Thaksin's billions to run a fibre optic structure with wireless hubs so that internet access is guaranteed for all Thai homes. At a stroke this would bootstrap Thai education levels in all ways.

[dhrobertson]

For some schools, especially the ones in rural areas, free wi-fi access will be a blessing. For schools in more affluent parts of Thailand, I smell a disaster brewing.

I work at a school in an affluent part of Thailand. Most of the students have laptops. I have noticed a substantial decrease in attention span because the kids are spending all of their time playing computer games. I don't think the social sites like hi5 and facebook (as well as porn) are as much of a problem as these networked games like Counterstrike (a first person shooter). The loss of attention span resulting from video game play is much greater than that caused by just watching TV and has been documented by several studies.

So, I think this is a mixed blessing. Good for the students in rural areas who will be able to access more information and research, but could present a big problem for more affluent kids who are not interested in learning and are only interested in using their laptops for gaming.

Look at it this way. Remember how thrilled you were in school, when your teacher brought in a film projector or TV for the students to watch, as opposed to the usual lecture? The kids at my school all put their heads down when you try to show them even a short video, in fact, even a music video. They don't want to do anything but play on the internet or play their networked games. Their access to the internet has destroyed their interest in learning.

Just my personal thoughts, based on my experience as a teacher in Thailand.

Isn't that more of a parenting issue?

Na.... It's a teaching issue. If one can not command the attention of the pupils or control a class maybe one should consider a different profession. As they use to say, If you can't do, teach. If you can't teach, teach Gym!

[way2muchcoffee]

For some schools, especially the ones in rural areas, free wi-fi access will be a blessing. For schools in more affluent parts of Thailand, I smell a disaster brewing.

I work at a school in an affluent part of Thailand. Most of the students have laptops. I have noticed a substantial decrease in attention span because the kids are spending all of their time playing computer games. I don't think the social sites like hi5 and facebook (as well as porn) are as much of a problem as these networked games like Counterstrike (a first person shooter). The loss of attention span resulting from video game play is much greater than that caused by just watching TV and has been documented by several studies.

So, I think this is a mixed blessing. Good for the students in rural areas who will be able to access more information and research, but could present a big problem for more affluent kids who are not interested in learning and are only interested in using their laptops for gaming.

Look at it this way. Remember how thrilled you were in school, when your teacher brought in a film projector or TV for the students to watch, as opposed to the usual lecture? The kids at my school all put their heads down when you try to show them even a short video, in fact, even a music video. They don't want to do anything but play on the internet or play their networked games. Their access to the internet has destroyed their interest in learning.

Just my personal thoughts, based on my experience as a teacher in Thailand.

Isn't that more of a parenting issue?

Na.... It's a teaching issue. If one can not command the attention of the pupils or control a class maybe one should consider a different profession. As they use to say, If you can't do, teach. If you can't teach, teach Gym!

Do you teach? What subject? For how long? In Thailand? For how many years? To what age levels? Rural or urban? Private or government schools? Your comments sound like ill-informed platitudes.

Whilst I agree that it is up to a teacher to control classes and provide quality lessons, addiction to video games and the attention span issues it engenders in children has very little to do with the schools. It is my contention that these are issues that are best addressed in the home and by the parents or guardians starting at about 2-3 years old.

The same can be said for the development of good study habits, honesty, integrity, motivation and self-discipline.

Edited August 14, 2010 by way2muchcoffee

[dhrobertson]

For some schools, especially the ones in rural areas, free wi-fi access will be a blessing. For schools in more affluent parts of Thailand, I smell a disaster brewing.

I work at a school in an affluent part of Thailand. Most of the students have laptops. I have noticed a substantial decrease in attention span because the kids are spending all of their time playing computer games. I don't think the social sites like hi5 and facebook (as well as porn) are as much of a problem as these networked games like Counterstrike (a first person shooter). The loss of attention span resulting from video game play is much greater than that caused by just watching TV and has been documented by several studies.

So, I think this is a mixed blessing. Good for the students in rural areas who will be able to access more information and research, but could present a big problem for more affluent kids who are not interested in learning and are only interested in using their laptops for gaming.

Look at it this way. Remember how thrilled you were in school, when your teacher brought in a film projector or TV for the students to watch, as opposed to the usual lecture? The kids at my school all put their heads down when you try to show them even a short video, in fact, even a music video. They don't want to do anything but play on the internet or play their networked games. Their access to the internet has destroyed their interest in learning.

Just my personal thoughts, based on my experience as a teacher in Thailand.

Isn't that more of a parenting issue?

Na.... It's a teaching issue. If one can not command the attention of the pupils or control a class maybe one should consider a different profession. As they use to say, If you can't do, teach. If you can't teach, teach Gym!

Do you teach? What subject? For how long? In Thailand? For how many years? To what age levels? Rural or urban? Private or government schools? Your comments sound like ill-informed platitudes.

Whilst I agree that it is up to a teacher to control classes and provide quality lessons, addiction to video games and the attention span issues it engenders in children has very little to do with the schools. It is my contention that these are issues that are best addressed in the home and by the parents or guardians starting at about 2-3 years old.

Teach? Good lord no! A vital profession which is underpaid and undervalued.

My comment was a wind-up of course.

However, I am amazed that anyone could have a negative view of anything which could lift the lamentable levels of eductation in Thailand.