TOT In Thailand Upgrades To HSPA+ For Faster Speed, Better Service

[webfact]

TOT in Thailand upgrades to HSPA+ for faster speed, better service

The Nation

Nokia Siemens Networks helps operator improve 3G mobile broadband, prepare for LTE

BANGKOK: -- TOT, Thailand's state-owned telecom operator, has selected Nokia Siemens Networks to upgrade its 3G network to HSPA+. This upgrade will improve mobile broadband services for the 7.2 million TOT customers and increase download speeds to even 42 megabits per second (Mbps) compared to the current 7.2 Mbps. The upgrade will be ready by April 2012.

"The Thai mobile market is extremely competitive, so we always need to ensure we are well ahead of the curve. With demand for data skyrocketing and operators looking to venture into the 3G space, we knew this was the right time to upgrade our 3G network," said Monchai Noosong, acting president at TOT. "Nokia Siemens Networks has helped us scale up quickly enabling us to ride the mobile broadband wave sweeping the country. In addition, the company's solution ensures an easy migration to LTE once that becomes topical for us."

"As smartphones become more common also in Thailand and people start using data heavy applications on them, it is important that the mobile broadband networks can manage the capacity needs and provide enjoyable customer experience, said Krittika Mahattanakul, head of Asia North, Asia Pacific region at Nokia Siemens Networks. "TOT is ensuring this by upgrading its network to HSPA+ early on."

Nokia Siemens Networks' all-IP ready HSPA+ solution is based on the Dual Carrier HSDPA technology, Flexi Multiradio Base Station and the 3G Radio Network Multicontroller (RNC).The company will also deploy its Liquid Core's COTS ATCA*-based Open Mobile Switching Server (MSS), which together with the Flexi Multiradio Base Station enables a smooth transition to LTE.

The TOT network, including GSM and 3G, will be monitored and optimized by the Nokia Siemens Networks NetAct network management system. Nokia Siemens Networks will also provide its Location Based Services solution enabling TOT to offer Value Added Services (VAS), such as localized advertising.

Nokia Siemens Networks will provide TOT network planning, implementation and optimization services, as well as services for operations support and training.

-- The Nation 2012-04-19

[woodyleonhard]

Technologically, TOT/AIS is catching up to CAT/TrueMoveH/DTAC. Remains to be seen if they'll devote the international bandwidth to the new network, but right now AIS is running gangbusters (Phuket Internet Speed site) around TrueMove-H, because they have the data pipes open.

Wonder when we'll get LTE? If it's rolled out properly and doesn't cost too much (two BIG if's), LTE could well replace ADSL, and come close to fiber.

[lomatopo]

Wonder when we'll get LTE? If it's rolled out properly and doesn't cost too much (two BIG if's), LTE could well replace ADSL, and come close to fiber.

HSPA+ and LTE are NOT broadband replacement technologies so expecting them to replace DSL or FTTH is unreasonable bordering on insane.

This is good news re: TOT. They have greatly increased their coverage but still have issues re: retail sales; their MVNO partners seem to have lost interest and issues with overall voice/text hand-off/coverage. The 7.2 million customers sounds like a stretch? I guess they are including all the AIS 3G customers in this figure?

[CWMcMurray]

So does that mean the Internet on my iPhone will be faster than my wifi at home (1mb)?

Does that mean I would be better off using my 3G data connection to make a personal wifi hotspot with my iPhone?

[4evermaat]

when will the prices come down. 1GB for 350 baht. without anything extra is a bit much.

What would be great is if they adjusted their pricing to take advantage of users who want to use more data. You still can keep most of the existing plans, but then you can layer on additional GB for 100 baht/GB to increase your fair use during the billing cycle?

[wpcoe]

from OP:

The upgrade will be ready by April 2012.

It's already the 21st of April. Did they really mean 2012?

[lomatopo]

when will the prices come down. 1GB for 350 baht. without anything extra is a bit much.

What would be great is if they adjusted their pricing to take advantage of users who want to use more data. You still can keep most of the existing plans, but then you can layer on additional GB for 100 baht/GB to increase your fair use during the billing cycle?

TOT has 30 day truly unlimited (no fair-use limits) 3G for 790 THB and 60 day unlimited (no fair-use limits) for 1,490 THB. TOT's MVNO's (resellers) may also have some good deals.

http://www.tot3g.net/GUI/PromotionInfo.aspx?pid=5

Post-paid packages: http://www.tot3g.net/GUI/PromotionInfo.aspx?pid=3