First Phase Of 3G In Thailand To Be In Service By 2nd Quarter Of 2011

[webfact]

3G to be in service by Q2/2011

BANGKOK, 1 November 2010 (NNT) - After a long delay, the TOT has finally decided to speed up the process for the 3G bidding, saying the first phase will be in service by the second quarter of next year.

The TOT board will grant a permit to only one lowest bidder to operate the third-generation telecommunication service( 3G) for the whole country. The TOT said the system was very complicated and should, therefore, be operated by only one company, which will be required to use the same equipment throughout the nation.

According to the TOT, AIS and True Move have already sent their subsidiary companies to join the TOT in operating the 3G service. The two companies are acting as Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) for the time being.

The Terms of Reference (TOR) have been completed and are now under the Attorney General Office’s consideration. The bidding will take place in December, and the name of the winning company will be announced in January next year.

The service is planned in three phases. The first phase, in which the service will be provided in important areas, is expected to be available in the second quarter of 2011. Service in the second phase will be provided for Bangkok, four surrounding provinces, and 13 other economic provinces; it should be in operation within 180 days after the first phase has been in place.

The third and final stage, which will cover the whole country, will be completed within 4 years. The TOT has expected that the 3G service will be able to support up to seven million numbers.

-- NNT 2010-11-01

[whybother]

So, adding on the usual Thai delays, that means about 2013.

[Para]

'The TOT board will grant a permit to only one lowest bidder to operate the third-generation telecommunication service( 3G) for the whole country. The TOT said the system was very complicated and should, therefore, be operated by only one company, which will be required to use the same equipment throughout the nation.'

Fantastic TOT are only allowing one 3G operator, nothing like a bit of healthy competition to keep the prices down and consumers happy. Would be great to be able to see the consumer pricing structures from all the bidders as opposed to simply finding out who won the contract.

So AIS, sorry I mean the unknown lowest bidder will have a(nother) strangle hold over Thailand's communications infrastructure.

[jpp2bkk]

Don't worry it's very complicated as they say, so anyway they will not be able to handle it, as it is for internet and the rest. TOT can come with any technology they want, I will never subscribe anything with them, they are incompetent.

[rakman]

'The TOT board will grant a permit to only one lowest bidder to operate the third-generation telecommunication service( 3G) for the whole country. The TOT said the system was very complicated and should, therefore, be operated by only one company, which will be required to use the same equipment throughout the nation.'

Fantastic TOT are only allowing one 3G operator, nothing like a bit of healthy competition to keep the prices down and consumers happy. Would be great to be able to see the consumer pricing structures from all the bidders as opposed to simply finding out who won the contract.

So AIS, sorry I mean the unknown lowest bidder will have a(nother) strangle hold over Thailand's communications infrastructure.

I agree.. Without competition, any process stagnates and becomes worse. If there is competition, then it forces all to be better or fail.

Sad to hear.. Too many rice bowls to upset, I guess..

[Tompa]

Thailand is becoming the laughing stock of the world. They’ve even managed to set up 3G on Mount Everest!

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-20021192-94.html

[Thai at Heart]

What school of thought would suggest that one operator is the optimal market structure?

I wonder what part of Korn or Abhisit's PPE degrees recommended this as being a good idea. I suppose they are following the Chinese or North Korean model for single operator dominance being the best thing for consumers.

Thailand the vibrant growing economy where we actively support monopolies in telecoms over competition because it is good for ......... (fill in the blank)

Answers on a postcard. Definitely don't send it via video link over your phone.

Idiots.

[Junglejumbo]

This is NOT the 3G that we've been reading about recently in the newspapers. This is a badly written article and is nothing to do with the 3G licences that were due to be auctioned off to the n-1 bidders about 6weeks ago. The real 3G which requires huge investment in a higher frequency network is still stuck in bureaucratic red tape and nothing is likely to materialise in the foreseeable future. First the new Broadcasting regulatory body must be establised to oversea the licensing rather than the NCCC as currently. This could take a year from now. Then if the government should change first this will further delay matters.

The article above is about ToT's 2100 spectrum which it grabbed while still a state company in about the year 2000. The service provided will be more like a 2.5G network as the back bone will still be either ToT's own fixed line networks or the mobile operators' 2G networks.

Sadly, the delays in a real and quality 3G service are being sacrificed possibly so that companies like Loxley Plc can benefit (Loxley is not a telecom company) which is owned by no other than the finance minister's family.

[Henry09]

What is the point of 3G with delays like this? That means 4G by about 2020!

[rakman]

'The TOT board will grant a permit to only one lowest bidder to operate the third-generation telecommunication service( 3G) for the whole country. The TOT said the system was very complicated and should, therefore, be operated by only one company, which will be required to use the same equipment throughout the nation.'

Fantastic TOT are only allowing one 3G operator, nothing like a bit of healthy competition to keep the prices down and consumers happy. Would be great to be able to see the consumer pricing structures from all the bidders as opposed to simply finding out who won the contract.

So AIS, sorry I mean the unknown lowest bidder will have a(nother) strangle hold over Thailand's communications infrastructure.

I agree.. Without competition, any process stagnates and becomes worse. If there is competition, then it forces all to be better or fail.

Sad to hear.. Too many rice bowls to upset, I guess..

OOPS.. Article today on 4G in New York is single network with 4 "customer service" companies, the usual suspects.

http://enews.pcmag.c...ZyrT78xJLxE=120

My only hope is eventually there will be more networks.

Edited November 1, 2010 by rakman

[Barin]

The TOT board will grant a permit to only one lowest bidder to operate the third-generation telecommunication service( 3G) for the whole country. The TOT said the system was very complicated and should, therefore, be operated by only one company, which will be required to use the same equipment throughout the nation.

And this "lowest bidder" will probably be a new MVNO operated by TOT itself.

It means the TOT monopoly in 3G business all over the Kingdom. Others will not be allowed to eat a single piece of the pie.

Very few people know that TOT is already operatining an MVNO 3G service in Bangkok on the frequency of 2100 MHz.

I have personally tested this service and found the download speed was over 6.4 Mbps in the real network environment. Very good indeed as the network load is very low, they are not providing an unlimited plan.

Please see the screenshots below.

[KarstenBoAndersen]

TOT is making a 3G network on their exsisting frekvencee !

The aution in Bangkok is about need frekvenzee´s !

But why make 3G ??? It is already an old technology, whole Scandinavia is now covered of 4G !

Thailand just show how much they are behind in this area.

Normal internet on landlines are getting much better, i have 12 MB TOT 30 KM. outside Khon Khaen, i have download rates from Bangkok at 11.5 MB 24/7, from USA 3-4 MB, and Europ 2-3 MB.

All at 1000 Baht a month.

[jfchandler]

As usual, things are a bit perplexing here in LOS.... Indeed...

True continues to operate a 3G service on the 850 Mhz frequency in Bangkok and several other cities, although supposedly they've been told to halt that service....but not done so...

TOT continues to operate a 3G service just in Bangkok on the 2100 Mhz frequency thru both its own plans and some MVNOs including I-Mobile.... When outside of BKK, at least for I-Mobile users such as myself, those customers automatically roam to AIS for phone calls, but get no data services, not even GPRS via AIS... So what exactly is TOT planning to launch next year in "important areas" and then Bangkok and surrounding provinces????

I signed up for I-Mobile almost a year ago when they first started offering the service in BKK... Well, technically, my wife did, as curiously I-Mobile wouldn't offer me (a farang) postpaid service but they were happy to open a post-paid account in my wife's name. 199 baht per month for 199 MB of HSPA data and includes 199 baht of calling time. They also offer higher 399 and 699 baht per month plans.

[hardy1943]

What is the point of 3G with delays like this? That means 4G by about 2020!

We are lucky to have dial up internet.What you expect in this banana country

[Harpov]

'The TOT board will grant a permit to only one lowest bidder to operate the third-generation telecommunication service( 3G) for the whole country. The TOT said the system was very complicated and should, therefore, be operated by only one company, which will be required to use the same equipment throughout the nation.'

Fantastic TOT are only allowing one 3G operator, nothing like a bit of healthy competition to keep the prices down and consumers happy. Would be great to be able to see the consumer pricing structures from all the bidders as opposed to simply finding out who won the contract.

So AIS, sorry I mean the unknown lowest bidder will have a(nother) strangle hold over Thailand's communications infrastructure.

Quite confusing article. I believe the reporter got things mixed up. Sounds like TOT is going to build something of their own, otherwise 'the lowest bidder' doesn't make much sense. I think there's two things here, a TOT operated 3G, and 3G networks operated by others, which licences would be awarded at a later date (and where highest bidders naturally win).

That would then explain why they prefer a single vendor policy ( as they feel the technology is complicated ), so they would have the whole country covered with same technology, instead of dealing with multiple vendors, when operating and maintaining. What AIS and True are in for is beyond me. The usual equipment vendor suspects should be Nokia-Siemens, Ericsson, Hua Wei etc.

Harpov

[wpcoe]

The service is planned in three phases. The first phase, in which the service will be provided in important areas, is expected to be available in the second quarter of 2011. Service in the second phase will be provided for Bangkok, four surrounding provinces, and 13 other economic provinces; it should be in operation within 180 days after the first phase has been in place.

The third and final stage, which will cover the whole country, will be completed within 4 years. The TOT has expected that the 3G service will be able to support up to seven million numbers

So, what are these "important areas" that are targed for 2011 Q2? I would have thought that Bangkok would be one of them, but no, Bangkok is part of the *second* phase?

[jfchandler]

The "important areas" reference probably has something to do with providing faster service to: Thai people who wear uniforms of a variety of sorts and/or government/military facilities. I dunno what else that reference could be about... Unless of course, they're referring to lady bars, go-go's and soapy parlors....