Ais Rolls Out 3G Coverage For Phuket

[Disinto]

Again, you CDMA fanboy are taking isolated CDMA cases. No one cares about CDMA in India where most of the operators are running W-CDMA.

Current W-CDMA peak throughput crushes CDMA peak throughput and it also crushes the observed realistic throughput seen on field during drive test.

CDMA in Thailand is indeed a good deal but why? Because there are not so many people using it. The infrastructure is overdimensioned.The UE ecosystem is very weak (wonder why only recently a CDMA iPhone has been released?). And guess what? The network will be shut down.

Edited July 20, 2011 by Disinto

[Barin]

Again, you CDMA fanboy are taking isolated CDMA cases. No one cares about CDMA in India where most of the operators are running W-CDMA.

Current W-CDMA peak throughput crushes CDMA peak throughput and it also crushes the observed realistic throughput seen on field during drive test.

CDMA in Thailand is indeed a good deal but why? Because there are not so many people using it. The infrastructure is overdimensioned.The UE ecosystem is very weak (wonder why only recently a CDMA iPhone has been released?). And guess what? The network will be shut down.

Yes, TRUE has acquired Hutch CDMA2000 1x EV-DO network. Hutch CDMA network is one of the oldest CDMA networks in Asia, launched in 2003. The infrastructure equipment is old and huge investments may be required in order to upgrade all the base stations and HLR / AUC / AAA to provide EVDO Revision A data service all over the coverage area. As far as I can understand TRUE wants to dump CDMA infrastructure and reuse the towers, antennas, cables, microwave links and even the radio frequency spectrum to migrate from CDMA 800 to GSM 850 with HSDPA just like Telstra in Australia has done.

If TRUE is not able to obtain the 2100 MHz 3G license, they may have an alternative to launch HSDPA 7.2 MBps data service on 850 MHz.

I am not certain if any other country in Europe or Asia is using GSM 850 with HSDPA. As far as I know GSM 850 is used mostly in North America and the United States.

Most of HSDPA capable mobile phones and modems can not work in GSM 850 frequency band. The choice of mobile terminals will be limited and their price will be 50% higher than those for the 2100 MHz frequency band.

Most countries in Asia and Europe including China and Russia are using 3G on the frequency of 2100 MHz. Therefore there is a wide choice of HSDPA terminals that are capable of working in HSDPA mode only on 2100 MHz. These terminals can not work in HSDPA mode on GSM 850 networks like the new TRUE GSM 850 network.

CAT CDMA is another CDMA2000 1x EVDO network not to be confused with Hutch CDMA network. This CDMA network was built by Huawei in 2005 and is very modern and advanced unlike the Hutch CDMA network. It has been invested over 7 Billion Baht in this network. So far nobody is prepared to pay 7 Billion Baht for this network. It is not feasible to migrate this CDMA network to GSM HSDPA network. The current status quo should be retained and the clever investors will realize that it's a very good investment anyway to keep this network up and running for 5 years or so and migrating this network to LTE later to have the download speed of 100 Mbps.

In Laos there are 2 commercial GSM HSDPA networks in operation. They are supposed to be capable of maximum download speed of up to 7.2 Mbps. However in the real network environment the download speed is not over 1 or 2 Mbps.

It means that even without any upgrade the current CAT CDMA network with its EVDO "Revision A" data service in many remote areas of Thailand can outperform a GSM HSDPA network. Please see my Speed Test screenshots above in this thread.

And no GSM HSDPA network will offer 100% true unlimited high speed Internet for just 800.- Baht per month!

Such low unlimited rates are only possible in CDMA networks, not in GSM networks!

[Disinto]

OK I give up, you obviously don't want to understand and you still stick to your silly conclusion "Such low unlimited rates are only possible in CDMA networks, not in GSM networks!" while copy-pasting the content you wrote on another topic.

Ciao, have a good day.

[Barin]

OK I give up, you obviously don't want to understand and you still stick to your silly conclusion "Such low unlimited rates are only possible in CDMA networks, not in GSM networks!" while copy-pasting the content you wrote on another topic.

Ciao, have a good day.

I do respect your point of view.

Anyone is entitled to have his or her own opinion.

I can even agree with you that HSPA / HSDPA technology in GSM networks theoretically may be a little bit faster than CDMA2000 1x EVDO "Revision A".

Here is the speed test I made in TOT network in Bangkok although I was in Central World with the base station antenna only 100 metres away.

These screenshots prove your point of view that HSDPA can actually download data a little bit faster than CDMA2000 1x EVDO "Revision A", but you need to be very close to the base station antenna.

In the normal conditions when you are located a few kilometres away from the base station there is very little difference between GSM HSDPA and CDMA EVDO Rev.A data performance.

I believe that still CAT CDMA with its EVDO service will remain the best option for those who want to have the best value for money.

Especially if you need to use 3G now and not wait until 2012 or 2013 when HSDPA is finally available in remote areas of Thailand.

[iks77]

OK I give up, you obviously don't want to understand and you still stick to your silly conclusion "Such low unlimited rates are only possible in CDMA networks, not in GSM networks!" while copy-pasting the content you wrote on another topic.

Ciao, have a good day.

I do respect your point of view.

Anyone is entitled to have his or her own opinion.

I can even agree with you that HSPA / HSDPA technology in GSM networks theoretically may be a little bit faster than CDMA2000 1x EVDO "Revision A".

Here is the speed test I made in TOT network in Bangkok although I was in Central World with the base station antenna only 100 metres away.

These screenshots prove your point of view that HSDPA can actually download data a little bit faster than CDMA2000 1x EVDO "Revision A", but you need to be very close to the base station antenna.

In the normal conditions when you are located a few kilometres away from the base station there is very little difference between GSM HSDPA and CDMA EVDO Rev.A data performance.

I believe that still CAT CDMA with its EVDO service will remain the best option for those who want to have the best value for money.

Especially if you need to use 3G now and not wait until 2012 or 2013 when HSDPA is finally available in remote areas of Thailand.

I reach more than 3 Mbit on TOT 3G at our condo, and i just have slightly one bar of fieldstrength. HSDPA is quite robust when using it on low fieldstrength.

I agree with you about the hardware availability. Most phones operate 900/2100 WCDMA, i didnt see any (of the cheaper ones) that also support 850.

[seriouseats]

just checked the iphone all over the place.. Cant find a single tower where i get 3g.. on TH GSM..

[stanley2550]

The 3G is fast no doubt...the question is when will they have full coverage in Bangkok.

[jfchandler]

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...

Actually, I believe AT&T has reached an agreement with T-Mobile to buy T-Mobile, but the deal hasn't been consummated as yet and/or passed regulatory approval.

So for right now, to the best of my knowledge, T-Mobile and AT&T continue to operate as entirely separate companies and networks... until and unless the sale is finalized.

[madmitch]

Don't understand the technical jargon above. All I know is that I am currently in the UK and get unlimited 3G, texts and 250 minutes talktime to any UK network for £10 per month (500 baht), prepaid. Doesn't sound as though anything like this will be on offer in Thailand for some time.

Also if True don't change from the current system of a separate signup for 3G on contract only that doesn't even work on my HTC phone then I'll have to consider going through the hassle of changing networks.

Edited July 28, 2011 by madmitch

[jfchandler]

To put it simply (I hope) there are several different 3G radio frequencies/services being deployed in Thailand, each by different companies like True, AIS, DTAC etc...

Whether your mobile is capable of working with any of them for 3G data service depends on whether your phone is capable of receiving the 3G band being offered/used by any particular mobile internet provider... Some mobile handsets can receive just one 3G band, others 2, 3 or all five bands.... All depends on your particular model of phone...

Right now, the Thai carriers and their 3G frequencies break down as follows:

True: 850 Mhz.

AIS: 900 Mhz

TOT/I-Mobile 2100 Mhz

DTAC: 850 Mhz

So check your HTC phone as to which 3G bands it is capable of operating on.

Location in Thailand also is a factor, however. None of those carriers have nationwide 3G available as yet.... True probably has the broadest coverage working right now BKK and several other larger cities.... AIS has several cities but is only just starting in Bangkok. TOT/I-Mobile are only in BKK right now and nowhere else for 3G... And DTAC is trying, but is being stymied to put up much of anything right now.

Edited July 28, 2011 by jfchandler

[Valentine]

Don't understand the technical jargon above. All I know is that I am currently in the UK and get unlimited 3G, texts and 250 minutes talktime to any UK network for £10 per month (500 baht), prepaid. Doesn't sound as though anything like this will be on offer in Thailand for some time.

Also if True don't change from the current system of a separate signup for 3G on contract only that doesn't even work on my HTC phone then I'll have to consider going through the hassle of changing networks.

All the HTC phones I looked at recently do not support video calling which to me is one of the attractions of signing up for 3G.

[Valentine]

All the HTC phones I looked at recently do not support video calling which to me is one of the attractions of signing up for 3G.

Seriously? Video call was one of the 3G killer applications when it was coming to the other parts of the world. But since those marketing talks, I have never seen anyone to really use it.

There was also some SIP/RTP based video/audio sharing applications.. but those were not successful either.

I was just saying the HTC phones do not support video calling. If you want video calling make sure your phone supports it & if using the service from AIS the phone must support 900MHz, DTAC uses 850. The 3G service from AIS does have video calling but costs an additional Baht 1.5 per minute. The packages price only includes internet access & some have unlimited WiFi access. For me video calling is not a big deal & accessing the internet through the small screen on my cheap smartphone is not much fun. I am guessing it can be connected to my PC & used as a back up modem in case the other one goes down but not sure about this.

Edited July 30, 2011 by Valentine