Ais Rolls Out 3G Coverage For Phuket

[george]

AIS rolls out 3G coverage for Phuket

EXCLUSIVE: Some AIS users may have recently noticed the "3G"

logo on their phone. Full services are expected to be available

by the end of the month.

PHUKET: AIS is currently rolling out Phuket’s first island-wide full 3G service with a target launch date slated for the end of the month, the Phuket Gazette has learned.

The news follows a ground-breaking demonstration of the service by Paiboon Rinsakul, AIS Marketing and Sales Manager for Upper Southern Thailand, at the Woody Leonhard Computer Clinic held in Chalong on Sunday.

Mr Paiboon demonstrated AIS’s new HSPA 3G service, with full internet access over AIS’s about-to-be-released wireless network.

In front of 50 observers at the meeting, Mr Paiboon ran the group’s standard international speed test to Los Angeles (www.phuketinternetspeed.com).

The speed test delivered a return of 1.8 Mbps download speed – by far the fastest wireless internet the group has ever seen, reported Mr Leonhard.

“By comparison, most wired connections in Phuket are running at 0.6 to 1.3 Mbps, meaning that the wireless AIS 3G service, right now, is faster than most wired ADSL connections.

“It’s also faster than most 3G connections in the US and Europe,” he added.

Mr Paiboon revealed that AIS will roll out HSPA 3G to towers covering about 95 per cent of the internet usage areas on the island.

The 3G service will be available to postpaid GSM and prepaid 1-2 Call, Mr Paiboon said.

“Full details, including pricing, have yet to be finalized, but AIS will probably offer several levels of service,” he added.

For Woody Leonhard’s full run down on the new 3G service and what it means for Phuket, read his Live Wire column in the Phuket Gazette out this Friday.

-- Phuket Gazette 2011-07-19

[sciack]

yes it is two days i saw the 3G sign on my iPhone ... I thought it was a joke eheh btw internet browsing is really fast! Great! Thanks AIS

[woodyleonhard]

yes it is two days i saw the 3G sign on my iPhone ... I thought it was a joke eheh btw internet browsing is really fast! Great! Thanks AIS

What you're seeing is intentionally throttled performance: AIS has the HSPA ("3G") network up and working, but nobody's signed up for real 3G service. If you use the 3G network, the speeds you see are comparable to what you'll be getting if you exceed the usage limit for a month.

We have some speeds posted at www.phuketinternetspeed.com, and we'll have many more as soon as the service is available. So far it's looking very good - and the coverage is excellent.

[seriouseats]

wow amazing.. Will we be able to use the great voicemail app on our iphone?

[LivinginKata]

Any idea of what this will cost per month ??

[jjjetski]

Ok, I have noticed an increased speed on my GPRS-Edge connection. Now it says "H" instead of "E" on the screen of my mobile. A speed test revealed around 300k up and 300k down. Hardly 3G, but definately an improvement on Phuket. Fingers crossed for some real connection.....

[Valentine]

Any idea of what this will cost per month ??

At the meeting he mentioned under 1,000.

[Jimi007]

“It’s also faster than most 3G connections in the US and Europe,” he added.

I was just in the US and most areas now have 4G, so I really don't know what they are trying to say in this quote...

[Disinto]

"It's also faster than most 3G connections in the US and Europe," he added.

I was just in the US and most areas now have 4G, so I really don't know what they are trying to say in this quote...

Simple: comparing apple to apple : 3G to 3G. But the average throughput will sure drop when more users will bloat the network.

And no, most areas don't have 4G. Only selected urban areas have either WiMAX or LTE with Sprint or Verizon (and more with AT&T coming).

[Disinto]

Now back on the topic, regarding AIS, I'd like to know when their 3G 900 MHz network will be rolled out in Bangkok Metro Area. I'll switch to AIS from TMV as soon as possible.

[Jimi007]

"It's also faster than most 3G connections in the US and Europe," he added.

I was just in the US and most areas now have 4G, so I really don't know what they are trying to say in this quote...

Simple: comparing apple to apple : 3G to 3G. But the average throughput will sure drop when more users will bloat the network.

And no, most areas don't have 4G. Only selected urban areas have either WiMAX or LTE with Sprint or Verizon (and more with AT&T coming).

T Mobile has 4G. AT&T bought T Mobile to access their 4G network. But of course my house is in California, near Silicon Valley and I'm sure the network there is way faster than anything in Thailand...

[seriouseats]

still no 3g icon in phuket town.. probably gonna take what 2years?

[Disinto]

"It's also faster than most 3G connections in the US and Europe," he added.

I was just in the US and most areas now have 4G, so I really don't know what they are trying to say in this quote...

Simple: comparing apple to apple : 3G to 3G. But the average throughput will sure drop when more users will bloat the network.

And no, most areas don't have 4G. Only selected urban areas have either WiMAX or LTE with Sprint or Verizon (and more with AT&T coming).

T Mobile has 4G. AT&T bought T Mobile to access their 4G network. But of course my house is in California, near Silicon Valley and I'm sure the network there is way faster than anything in Thailand...

T-Mobile is usurping the 4G tag. They're running an HSPA+ network, not a WiMAX or LTE one unlike Verizon or AT&T.

Even though ITU accepted the 4G tag for HSPA+ network, its speed is nowhere near LTE networks (read the Verizon LTE test drive reports for that, e.g. http://www.intomobile.com/2011/06/28/verizon-4g-lte-tops-nationwide-speedtest/ ).

You may perceive it faster because of lower RTT but RTT is different than average and peak throughput.

Edited July 20, 2011 by Disinto

[hkt83100]

yes it is two days i saw the 3G sign on my iPhone ... I thought it was a joke eheh btw internet browsing is really fast! Great! Thanks AIS

I just tried it, my N8 tell me something about 3.5G - whatever that should be... Some kind of Business Class ??

[Disinto]

yes it is two days i saw the 3G sign on my iPhone ... I thought it was a joke eheh btw internet browsing is really fast! Great! Thanks AIS

I just tried it, my N8 tell me something about 3.5G - whatever that should be... Some kind of Business Class ??

Probably HSPA, which is somewhat 3.5G while HSPA+ would be tagged 3.75G or 4G like T-Mobile US for silly marketing reasons.

[g00dgirl]

Any idea of what this will cost per month ??

At the meeting he mentioned under 1,000.

Yes he said the biggest package would be 5GB for 1000 THB, but there are several smaller packages but there won't be an unlimited data package.

[LivinginKata]

Yes he said the biggest package would be 5GB for 1000 THB, but there are several smaller packages but there won't be an unlimited data package.

No unlimited package .... mmmm that's not so good.

[Barin]

Any idea of what this will cost per month ??

It will not be cheap, and the speeds will not be much faster than the current CAT CDMA EVDO service.

CAT CDMA has its EVDO "Revision A" data service coverage in 70% of Thailand with download speeds as high as 3.1 Mbps.

Here is the screenshot of my speed test in CAT CDMA network, the actual download speed is 2.6 Mbps in the real network environment.

This is a fully true unlimited 3G service available for just 800.- Baht per month. And it works in 70% of Thailand even in many remote areas like Nan province, etc.

Don't expect the new GSM HSDPA data service from AIS or TRUE to be much faster than the current EVDO service in CAT CDMA. In many cases GSM HSDPA will be inferior to EVDO in the real network environment. You will be very much disappointed eventually.

Neither AIS nor TRUE nor TOT will ever offer fully unlimited plan.

All the plans will have a traffic limit (from 1 GB to 3 GB per month) with monthly service charge ranging from 500 to 1,500 Baht.

This is the rough idea of the pricing structure. Some variations may exist.

[crgram]

I noticed the H (HSPA) symbol on my android phone yesterday. A speed check revealed 2 Mps down load and 1.7 Mps up in Rawai, not to bad.

FYI: I have a 1.5 gig for 399 baht a month package that I signed up for in Chiang Mai.

cr

[Disinto]

Any idea of what this will cost per month ??

It will not be cheap, and the speeds will not be much faster than the current CAT CDMA EVDO service.

CAT CDMA has its EVDO "Revision A" data service coverage in 70% of Thailand with download speeds as high as 3.1 Mbps.

Here is the screenshot of my speed test in CAT CDMA network, the actual download speed is 2.6 Mbps in the real network environment.

This is a fully true unlimited 3G service available for just 800.- Baht per month. And it works in 70% of Thailand even in many remote areas like Nan province, etc.

Don't expect the new GSM HSDPA data service from AIS or TRUE to be much faster than the current EVDO service in CAT CDMA. In many cases GSM HSDPA will be inferior to EVDO in the real network environment. You will be very much disappointed eventually.

Neither AIS nor TRUE nor TOT will ever offer fully unlimited plan.

All the plans will have a traffic limit (from 1 GB to 3 GB per month) with monthly service charge ranging from 500 to 1,500 Baht.

This is the rough idea of the pricing structure. Some variations may exist.

On which criteria exactly?

[Barin]

Any idea of what this will cost per month ??

At the meeting he mentioned under 1,000.

Yes he said the biggest package would be 5GB for 1000 THB, but there are several smaller packages but there won't be an unlimited data package.

Most of the GSM HSDPA networks never offer unlimited package because it's so easy to have the network capacity overloaded and the download speeds will be degrading to 1,5 Mbps or lower.

CDMA EVDO networks have larger capacity, so they can afford offering fully unlimited packages.

For example in Laos there is Lao Telecom 3G network up and running for 2 years already. It seems this network has already been overloaded as the actual download speed is not over 1.5 Mbps. On the other hand CAT CDMA in Nongkhai is working much better with download speeds of over 2.0 Mbps. Please see my screenshot above.

[Barin]

I noticed the H (HSPA) symbol on my android phone yesterday. A speed check revealed 2 Mps down load and 1.7 Mps up in Rawai, not to bad.

FYI: I have a 1.5 gig for 399 baht a month package that I signed up for in Chiang Mai.

cr

This is the old package. It will be cancelled soon when the 3G service will be launched commercially. Now it's so low only due to the trial basis of this network and very limited coverage (Bangkol, Chiangmai, very small area in Pattaya, Huahin and Phuket).

[Disinto]

Yes he said the biggest package would be 5GB for 1000 THB, but there are several smaller packages but there won't be an unlimited data package.

Most of the GSM HSDPA networks never offer unlimited package because it's so easy to have the network capacity overloaded and the download speeds will be degrading to 1,5 Mbps or lower.

CDMA EVDO networks have larger capacity, so they can afford offering fully unlimited packages.

For example in Laos there is Lao Telecom 3G network up and running for 2 years already. It seems this network has already been overloaded as the actual download speed is not over 1.5 Mbps. On the other hand CAT CDMA in Nongkhai is working much better with download speeds of over 2.0 Mbps. Please see my screenshot above.

Sorry but you're completely wrong. Many HSPA networks have offered unlimited data packages with the iPhone introduction, only to backoff with a cap and a throttled speed after some time considering the network congestion when more and more users were connected on the network. There won't be unlimited packages anymore, starting with the US (http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=209321) and slowly propagating to other developed, smartphone-hungry countries.

CDMA networks have nowhere near the capacity of HSPA+ networks, especially when considering Dual-Cell HSDPA (peak at 42 Mbps) and MIMO. Even HSPA+ networks with 64QAM modulation (21 Mbps peak) will put CDMA networks to shame when using several carriers.

Don't take your specific experience for a general case. The world's most loaded mobile networks are running HSPA.

[Barin]

It will not be cheap, and the speeds will not be much faster than the current CAT CDMA EVDO service.

CAT CDMA has its EVDO "Revision A" data service coverage in 70% of Thailand with download speeds as high as 3.1 Mbps.

Here is the screenshot of my speed test in CAT CDMA network, the actual download speed is 2.6 Mbps in the real network environment.

This is a fully true unlimited 3G service available for just 800.- Baht per month. And it works in 70% of Thailand even in many remote areas like Nan province, etc.

Don't expect the new GSM HSDPA data service from AIS or TRUE to be much faster than the current EVDO service in CAT CDMA. In many cases GSM HSDPA will be inferior to EVDO in the real network environment. You will be very much disappointed eventually.

Neither AIS nor TRUE nor TOT will ever offer fully unlimited plan.

All the plans will have a traffic limit (from 1 GB to 3 GB per month) with monthly service charge ranging from 500 to 1,500 Baht.

This is the rough idea of the pricing structure. Some variations may exist.

On which criteria exactly?

This is based on my own experience in Singapore in 2007 and what I read about GSM 3G networks in Laos.

[Disinto]

It will not be cheap, and the speeds will not be much faster than the current CAT CDMA EVDO service.

CAT CDMA has its EVDO "Revision A" data service coverage in 70% of Thailand with download speeds as high as 3.1 Mbps.

Here is the screenshot of my speed test in CAT CDMA network, the actual download speed is 2.6 Mbps in the real network environment.

This is a fully true unlimited 3G service available for just 800.- Baht per month. And it works in 70% of Thailand even in many remote areas like Nan province, etc.

Don't expect the new GSM HSDPA data service from AIS or TRUE to be much faster than the current EVDO service in CAT CDMA. In many cases GSM HSDPA will be inferior to EVDO in the real network environment. You will be very much disappointed eventually.

Neither AIS nor TRUE nor TOT will ever offer fully unlimited plan.

All the plans will have a traffic limit (from 1 GB to 3 GB per month) with monthly service charge ranging from 500 to 1,500 Baht.

This is the rough idea of the pricing structure. Some variations may exist.

On which criteria exactly?

This is based on my own experience in Singapore in 2007 and what I read about GSM 3G networks in Laos.

Exactly what I said, you're taking isolated cases to come up with a flawed conclusion. CDMA RAN are dwarfed by HSPA networks, that's a fact.

[iks77]

It will not be cheap, and the speeds will not be much faster than the current CAT CDMA EVDO service.

CAT CDMA has its EVDO "Revision A" data service coverage in 70% of Thailand with download speeds as high as 3.1 Mbps.

Here is the screenshot of my speed test in CAT CDMA network, the actual download speed is 2.6 Mbps in the real network environment.

This is a fully true unlimited 3G service available for just 800.- Baht per month. And it works in 70% of Thailand even in many remote areas like Nan province, etc.

Don't expect the new GSM HSDPA data service from AIS or TRUE to be much faster than the current EVDO service in CAT CDMA. In many cases GSM HSDPA will be inferior to EVDO in the real network environment. You will be very much disappointed eventually.

Neither AIS nor TRUE nor TOT will ever offer fully unlimited plan.

All the plans will have a traffic limit (from 1 GB to 3 GB per month) with monthly service charge ranging from 500 to 1,500 Baht.

This is the rough idea of the pricing structure. Some variations may exist.

On which criteria exactly?

This is based on my own experience in Singapore in 2007 and what I read about GSM 3G networks in Laos.

The real speed of the 3G network depends how the cell towers are connected to the internet themselves. If they are linked by radio you can not expect much speed. If they are linked with fibre optics (like mostly in urban areas) you can expect that you sometimes reach the 7.2 Mbit or even more (Vodafone DE currently has the firmware for 21.6 MBit on the towers, hence nearly no hardware supports it - most phones are limited to 3.6 or 7.2 Mbit).

[Barin]

Don't take your specific experience for a general case. The world's most loaded mobile networks are running HSPA.

What do you mean by "most loaded"?

The most advanced cellular networks are operating in Japan and they are based on CDMA technology.

Even HSPA / HSDPA in GSM networks is based on CDMA technology but can not be utilized to the full potential due to the limitations of GSM technology.

Today the most advanced technology developed is CDMA2000 EVDO "Revision C" with maximum download speeds as high as 200 Mbps.

South Korea dumped GSM technology long time ago.

[Disinto]

You're not up to date, sorry. SKT and KT (Korea) and US (AT&T) are all running HSPA (SKT is running W-CDMA and CDMA, but has more W-CDMA base stations than CDMA) and are among the most loaded networks in the planet. Japan is another story, granted, even though FOMA (DoCoMo) is based on W-CDMA and compatible with UMTS. Softbank uses W-CDMA. Only KDDI uses CDMA but is dwarfed by its competitors.

Also, stop referring HSPA networks as GSM. They're normalized by 3GPP but W-CDMA on the radio perspective has nothing in common with GSM.

W-CDMA networks are only partially based on CDMA technology. They're using CDMA access technique oviously, but W-CDMA doesn't use a subcarrier scheme.

Please get your facts straight: 3GPP2 networks are nowhere near 3GPP networks.

And no, today the most advanced networks are LTE networks which are normalized by 3GPP R10 in the same line than GSM and W-CDMA. EV-DO Rev C is dead born, completely eaten by LTE which has already eaten WiMAX (even Sprint will upgrade to LTE).

Edited July 20, 2011 by Disinto

[Disinto]

The real speed of the 3G network depends how the cell towers are connected to the internet themselves. If they are linked by radio you can not expect much speed. If they are linked with fibre optics (like mostly in urban areas) you can expect that you sometimes reach the 7.2 Mbit or even more (Vodafone DE currently has the firmware for 21.6 MBit on the towers, hence nearly no hardware supports it - most phones are limited to 3.6 or 7.2 Mbit).

There are some high capacity microwave links for backhauling purposes that will allow reaching decent speed on the user side

[Barin]

The real speed of the 3G network depends how the cell towers are connected to the internet themselves. If they are linked by radio you can not expect much speed. If they are linked with fibre optics (like mostly in urban areas) you can expect that you sometimes reach the 7.2 Mbit or even more (Vodafone DE currently has the firmware for 21.6 MBit on the towers, hence nearly no hardware supports it - most phones are limited to 3.6 or 7.2 Mbit).

There are some high capacity microwave links for backhauling purposes that will allow reaching decent speed on the user side

OK, let's summarize the current 3G situation over here in Thailand.

Why is everyone so fascinated now about the new TRUE or AIS 3G service?

3G has been available in Thailand since 2006 as far as I can remember (already 5 years ago). At that time CAT CDMA started to offer its EVDO data service with 70% coverage of Thailand.

At that time nobody was shouting that it was the first 3G network in Thailand!

The service did not get very popular due to the very poor marketing strategy of CAT CDMA. They did not even take much efforts to advertise and promote the EVDO service.

Take a look at the overwhelming success of CDMA networks in India, Indonesia, Nigeria, the Ukraine, etc.!

Let's face the truth.

In the commercial HSDPA networks in most countries of the world the actual download speed in reality is much lower than the theoretical 7.2 Mbps.

You are quite lucky if you can have 2.0 Mbps.

In a very rare case if you are near the tower you may have 3.0 or 4.0 Mbps.

This is not very much different from the current CAT CDMA EVDO speed in Thailand (see the screenshot above).

And CAT CDMA unlimited 3G is available for only 800.- Baht per month.

Currently this is the best value for money.

Edited July 20, 2011 by Barin