20,000 Free Wi-Fi Hotspots To Be Launched Nationwide: Thailand

[cobra]

There's free WiFi, then there's "free" WiFi,

It's all about available bandwidth that will make it practical or not,

[scorecard]

......."and the costs will be kept to a minimum" !!! So is it really Free Wi-Fi or not free ? ?

None of the other populist promises had any real costing research, and many still don't complete plans and costs.

You really expect the 20,000 wi-fi spots project has already been fully costed, comparisons studies, SWOT analysis completed, etc?

Why on earth would you need to do a SWOT analysis on a government led free service? Threats from where exactly?

So your saying that because it's a government led free service there is no need for a SWOT analysis of the idea?

Well it's not free, it cannot be free, there will be costs which will come from my taxes and perhaps yours, (and a different but aligned point, provide more opportunities for corruption).

Therefore there should be an analysis whether it's really the best approach, to check whether there are any possible threats which would make the service poor quality etc., also analysis whether it would provide an opportunity for other systems / services / whatever to piggy back onto the 'free' wi-fi service, etc., or to perhaps highlight that other things could piggy back and that would be valuable but the technology specs need to be adjusted, etc.

[nurofiend]

<snip>

I welcome the news, and so will millions of Thais.

I'm sure we all do.... just as soon as it actually happens in reality...

because

Seeing is believing

because, just like the earlier 1 gigabyte internet connection "scheme"... talking about a fantasy is cheap.

.

and so is complaining about it

[drdoom6996]

It sure would be nice if they stopped promising stuff they can't do or provide.

[phiphidon]

How's that one gigabyte internet speed that Samak's government planned for Phuket in 2008 coming along?

.

About as well as the democrats Nationwide 3G stategy progress, I think.

[MaiChai]

Much more effective to use 3g. Almost everyone has a smartphone in the west now. Wifi has too short a range and you quickly tired of those login web pages. 3g is the way to go. Wifi is fine for starbucks and mcdonalds.

As for being free: either there is a catch or it is free in which case there is no money to support the service and you can expect a poor service.

[wana]

Much more effective to use 3g. Almost everyone has a smartphone in the west now. Wifi has too short a range and you quickly tired of those login web pages. 3g is the way to go. Wifi is fine for starbucks and mcdonalds.

As for being free: either there is a catch or it is free in which case there is no money to support the service and you can expect a poor service.

many or most locations already have 3G or at least EDGE / GPRS from one of the major companies

whether they have laptops or smartphones or if there is electricty to chare the batteries turn them on is the bigger problem

Edited October 11, 2011 by wana

[jimbeam1]

......."and the costs will be kept to a minimum" !!! So is it really Free Wi-Fi or not free ? ?

None of the other populist promises had any real costing research, and many still don't complete plans and costs.

You really expect the 20,000 wi-fi spots project has already been fully costed, comparisons studies, SWOT analysis completed, etc?

Ah, but they have a master plan?

jb1

[Buchholz]

<snip>

I welcome the news, and so will millions of Thais.

I'm sure we all do.... just as soon as it actually happens in reality...

because

Seeing is believing

because, just like the earlier 1 gigabyte internet connection "scheme"... talking about a fantasy is cheap.

and so is complaining about it

as well as complaining about people belittling poor performance

.

[Buchholz]

How's that one gigabyte internet speed that Samak's government planned for Phuket in 2008 coming along?

About as well as the democrats Nationwide 3G stategy progress, I think.

With the one gigabyte scheme being older.

.

[nurofiend]

I'm sure we all do.... just as soon as it actually happens in reality...

because

Seeing is believing

because, just like the earlier 1 gigabyte internet connection "scheme"... talking about a fantasy is cheap.

and so is complaining about it

as well as complaining about people belittling poor performance

.

how is a plan for something that, in my eyes is a positive thing - 'poor performance'?

my issue is with people belittling every single announcement or plan the current government makes no matter what...

[tombkk]

. . and every day when school's out, the internet speed slows irrevocably down to snail speed, due to the fact several millions of kids crowd the internet cafes and start playing games. I can set my watch to it. Also, on sunday afternoon, the speed is slower than on workdays, indicating the Thai League of Internet warriors is online !

I experience the same. And so do millions of internet users throughout the world. The big companies notwithstanding who have a leased lineas opposed to a dynamic IP address.

The one thing I am missing in our post is a point.

[longtom]

Nobody questions the merit of such an idea. But we should have learnt from recent history, that the mere anouncement of a plan by a Thai politician shouldn't be overly glorified. They tend to make anouncements before thinking about feasability.:jap: