Mobile Congestion Chaos In Thailand

[gharknes]

forgot to mention

I have also noticed recently that the quality of audio has reduced to an almost intolerable level, it is difficult to talk to the other person even if you can get connected

how can the network phone operators be forced into fixing all theses issues, it's going to reach a stage where the mobile network is unusable .. what then ?

[dvk1951]

OK, lots of rants and raves about the piss poor service but absolutely no concrete info regarding the causes of this current dilema nor any data regarding the time frame for any corrections.

Surely there must be some upset Thais too or is this another case of expatitis, where are are the voices of the masses and are they being heard?

[bkk_mike]

In a year from now people are gonna be like "GSM What?" This antiquated technology is maxed out at 2.5G.

Guys that work for Hutch know the skinny.

CDMA is the future. Sadly the Finns & The Swedish are gonna hold onto GSM for as long as possible.

Weird - I thought the Finns and Swedes (and the rest of the EU) had all installed UMTS (aka W-CDMA) already as their 3G system (which is based on a type of CDMA). In the UK anyway, you've got 3G networks living alongside the 2G networks.

Agreed - CDMA (in one brand or another) is the future, but GSM is fine for voice calls - so long as there are enough base stations for the number of phones, and the telecom providers have decent connections to their base stations, and between each other. (which are probably the bigger issues in Thailand).

(In some ways, GSM is better than CDMA as you get cheaper phones, because CDMA needs more processing power, and GSM is used virtually worldwide, meaning there's a bigger market for it.)

I do wish everyone had agreed on which type of 3G to use. Then we could have phones that work everywhere. - But you have CDMA2000 (with extensions such as EVDO), which you have in the US, Thailand, Japan (KDDi) and some other countries, and W-CDMA, which you have in Europe, Japan (Vodafone I think), and some other countries.

[ashacat]

I have noticed that there have been network problems with my AIS phone for a while but the problem usually goes after a couple of minutes. But this week and particularly today I have been completely unable to "access the network" for bloody ages!!!

Sort it out you SLAGS!!!!!!!

[Tango7]

The network is probably jammed with all the calls the school kids make and all the text messaging they do when they are sitting next to each other.

I do notice that I rarely see a farang on a mobile. When I see Thai girls getting off BTS or Underground they all seem to be on the phone. I think it's the fear of being alone and a phone call makes that fear go away.

I have zero knowledge of the mobile phone networks in Thailand other than I have a mobile phone which works most of the time if I keep it charged.

Yes, I have an agenda and I'm pushin' it. It's called comedy, light relief, don't take life so seriously.

You should try it ?

[newworks]

The network is probably jammed with all the calls the school kids make and all the text messaging they do when they are sitting next to each other.

I do notice that I rarely see a farang on a mobile. When I see Thai girls getting off BTS or Underground they all seem to be on the phone. I think it's the fear of being alone and a phone call makes that fear go away.

totally agree. as a lot of us know firsthand, thai girls can be seriously "kee ngao"!

just trying out a new emoticon!

[Siam_superfly]

All I was getting for the first call in Bangkok from about 1700 hrs each day was a "network busy" signal....had to just let it redial and hope, sooner or later u get through....but u wouldnt want to be calling for a life of death situation in Bangkok just now.....

[stiggy]

Feel bad for the remote medics ........Im still qualified but not on call any more..

Co ordinating evacuations is near impossible. Drs ,Helicopter pilots,Boat captains are all on mobiles and there isnt any land lines available when some poor sod has smashed his bike on the side of the road or has had a heart attack trying to impress his mia noi .

We get less than a 1o min window to defib a patient in cardiac arrest.....6 mins trying to call for it

Unfourtunatly the familys/tourists just think we are slow to react but the truth is we cant get information to the relevant people.we have presence in Gulf ofThailand and west coast same problem in all areas.

Yes we have explained to the phone operators how critical this is even pushing for "special treatment" ....Guess what we where offered 400bht of FREE CAlLS

still will come in handy to eventually tell the relatives that there beloved died trying to phone for help....

Ill end there before it turns to a rant....

[mai_reuh]

DTAC has been acting funny for me lately, sometimes when my girlfriend calls, its her voive, but a different number shows up on the screen..like the lines are being crossed...

I have a similar problem. This girl keeps calling me, she's not my girlfriend, and I don't recognise the number, but she says she knows me. Strange - must be a problem with the networks.

[giffarine]

Mobile users normally don’t check how much was charged on their phone bills, all pays upon request. How much these phone companies make their extras by adding additional 10 Baht per subscribers?

[george]

Update:

Call traffic worsens as tariffs bottom out

AIS network fails after truck accident

BANGKOK: -- Mobile-phone congestion problems will persist unless operators stop their price wars and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) enforces the new interconnection-charge regulations, according to industry experts.

Consumer frustrations at local operators increased yesterday as customers of mobile leader Advanced Info Service were left without service yesterday morning in parts of Bangkok due to a network collapse.

The company said the problem occurred after a lorry had crashed into one of the firm's transmission points.

Network congestion has jumped sharply as a mobile phone price war has broken out as operators look to boost their customer base ahead of the introduction of interconnection charges.

Call traffic this month has risen 300% to 400% as lower tariffs which had encouraged consumers to make more and longer calls than normal.

Even though the three major operators, AIS, DTAC and True Move, have been expanding their cross-network links since late last month, network problems continue due to slow progress in equipment upgrades and increased call traffic.

There are around 30 million mobile users in Thailand. Traffic among the different networks depends both on direct links between fixed-line and mobile operators, as well as through the TOT's interconnection gateway.

The three mobile operators entered a ''gentleman's agreement'' in early March to expand direct links with 750 E1 circuits each. The expansion work, at an estimated cost of 100 million baht, is expected to be completed within 90 days.

Each E1 circuit point can handle 30 cross-network calls simultaneously.

But AIS has installed only 30 E1 links with DTAC's direct gateways since mid-April.

Second-ranked DTAC said the slow progress in new network links by AIS was the main factor behind the current problems. The number of AIS customers making calls to other networks has risen by 30-40%.

But Wichien Mektrakarn, AIS executive vice-president for operations, said time was needed to complete the new links and upgrades.

He said AIS was installing an additional 101 E1 points linking with DTAC, while DTAC was adding 101 points to AIS gateways. Installation of the first set is to be completed by the end of this month, bringing the total cross-link capacity between AIS and DTAC to 720 points.

AIS and DTAC planned to add another 180 points each next month, with installation finished in July.

AIS now has 1,200 direct-link points connecting with DTAC, 378 with True Move, 1,800 with TOT and 218 with TT&T.

AIS plans to install another 255 points for outgoing traffic to True Move by July and another 25 outgoing points to TT&T.

DTAC has 1,202 direct points with AIS, 1,189 with True Move, 3,119 with TOT and 170 with Hutch.

He said mobile call connections should get better and would improve dramatically, but declined to offer guarantees that the expansion in interconnection links would be enough for future traffic growth.

--Bangkok Post 2006-05-18

[wimster]

The problem with these idiots at AIS is that they continue to lie.... a lorry crashed into a transmission point. Yeah right !

I'm still waiting for answers re. my GPRS email problems, 12 days after I asked first (5 emails, 2 calls)....nothing.

What an amateurs. Where is the government on this....oh wait...AIS = the government. Losers.

I want number portability. Now !

Update:

Call traffic worsens as tariffs bottom out

AIS network fails after truck accident

The company said the problem occurred after a lorry had crashed into one of the firm's transmission points.

--Bangkok Post 2006-05-18

[[email protected]]

TIT..... it could be better, but I like it

[moonoi]

In a year from now people are gonna be like "GSM What?" This antiquated technology is maxed out at 2.5G.

Guys that work for Hutch know the skinny.

CDMA is the future. Sadly the Finns & The Swedish are gonna hold onto GSM for as long as possible.

Weird - I thought the Finns and Swedes (and the rest of the EU) had all installed UMTS (aka W-CDMA) already as their 3G system (which is based on a type of CDMA). In the UK anyway, you've got 3G networks living alongside the 2G networks.

Agreed - CDMA (in one brand or another) is the future, but GSM is fine for voice calls - so long as there are enough base stations for the number of phones, and the telecom providers have decent connections to their base stations, and between each other. (which are probably the bigger issues in Thailand).

(In some ways, GSM is better than CDMA as you get cheaper phones, because CDMA needs more processing power, and GSM is used virtually worldwide, meaning there's a bigger market for it.)

I do wish everyone had agreed on which type of 3G to use. Then we could have phones that work everywhere. - But you have CDMA2000 (with extensions such as EVDO), which you have in the US, Thailand, Japan (KDDi) and some other countries, and W-CDMA, which you have in Europe, Japan (Vodafone I think), and some other countries.

Indeed the reason why CDMA wasn't popular in the rest of the world is the level of royalties that Qualcomm (the owner of CDMA patents) wanted to build handsets and network infrastructure. The GSM charging structure is much more simple and fair.

Quite simply its impossible to build a CDMA network and handset anywhere near as cheaply and cost effectively as a GSM network......hence GSMs' popularity around the world

This is also the reason for all the differant 3G CDMA specifications. China for instance came up with its own version to avoid paying royalties to Qualcomm.....other countries probably did the same.

Probably down to politics in the end, no one wants there mobile network systems to be owned by the US

[george]

Update:

Cell-phone users fuming: survey

BANGKOK: -- Most cell-phone users experience difficulty making successful calls and are angry about sub-standard service, claims an Abac Poll Research Centre survey released yesterday.

The survey covered 1,404 Bangkok cell-phone users - 468 users each of Advanced Info Service (AIS), Total Access Communication (DTAC) and True Move.

Conducted last Tuesday to Saturday, the survey gauged cell-phone users' experience of their service and their feelings about that amid the ongoing operator price wars.

Dr Noppadol Kannikar heads the research centre and yesterday said that more than 80 per cent of respondents had had difficulty making calls over the past 15 days.

The respondents said the difficulties were mainly experienced between 6pm and 9pm, although problems were detected at other periods, notably noon to 6pm.

According to the survey, while most phone calls were business or social, others made from cell phones were urgent, including emergencies and threats against life and property.

"Up to 77.6 per cent [of respondents] believe it is unfair that service quality is poor. The findings should prompt operators to urgently tackle these problems," Noppadol said.

More than 81 per cent complained that service providers had taken no responsibility for the erratic service.

--The Nation 2006-05-22

[Dragonmode]

2 weeks and I still haven't been able to contact my friend in Phuket. Are international calls even more impossible with this system dilemma?

[Toni]

Mobile congestion chaos in Thailand

BANGKOK: -- Hard to call on your mobile? Network error?

You are not alone. To call an AIS number from a DTAC mobile or opposite is nearly impossible.

To call a landline from or to a Thai mobile is no success, since many days.

Thaivisa.com tried to connect this evening to several networks, but it's impossible.

A lot pf promotions from AIS, DTAC and True has made it impossible to call through these networks. It is a mess!

We have tried to get an answer from both AIS and DTAC Customer Services, the two leading mobile operators in Thailand. They refuse to speak with journalists.

Your comments and complaints here, please!

--thaivisa.com 2006-05-14

RELATED NEWS:

Too much promotions!

Higher Mobile Rates will solve the problems!

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=68899

Mobile Phone Traffic Jam To Be Solved

Expansion of inter-network capacity

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=68615

typical bad, very bad management and (where I have seen that before?) taking ad-hoc decisions without overseeing the consequences or not being prepared!

In Europe such management was already sent home!

We have lost already business by not being reachable.

One of the problems is that the connection has been established for one second and cuts out right away. Who pais the first connection?

Very arrogant not willing to speak to journalists; very shortsighted!

[Jai Yen Yen]

Before we get the "Hounds and Flaming Torches" to go after the carriers, look carefully at the handset you are using.

Old Handsets and handsets with OEM equipment (O2, Blueberry etc) seem to be the most prone to trouble. The next handset problem is the new ones.....

...So please be careful before we go after the phone companies on this one. I know as a fact the links are very closely monitored, and their utilization is not as high as claimed in the media.

[udon]

I've been trying to contact a m8 on Samui for 3 days, even SMS don't get thru, either direction.

Only Skype seems to work, PC2PC.

[jdinasia]

it does take me a few times to connect to folks ... even AIS to AIS ... ugh!

[busgen]

The whole Thai telecomunication system is a joke and a farce.

And what about the users?

This time I won't judge, moralize or whatever. I'll just give some examples of the use of the NET in Thailand:

1. Appointment with 11 of my students for a night out to some restaurant. Appointment was made 2 weeks prior to the event, but on the moment itself, the 5 cars "talked" each other to their destination.

2. I receive phonecalls from people I don't know. People just dial a number and wait for some repsonse. Obviously these callers need some attention or just want to talk to someone!! My friend spent last Sunday almost 5 hours talking to someone who phoned me. I didn't know the person and passed the phone to my friend: they had a great time together.

3. Listen to a telephone conversation between Thais (I know, it's not appropriate) and you will hear a lot of 'replays'. It's for a lot of people not easy to communicate on the phone.

4. Driving and ........... well the law should do someting against it. As soon as people get into their car or onto their motorbike, they start making phonecalls.

5. At the beginning of my teaching career I asked my students to turn off their phones: 25% of them didn't come back after the first lesson. I don't ask it anymore; a phone is some kind of life line you shouldn't touch!

6. The sales manager in my company has 2 phones and he is always in a struggle with one of them; he must be very popular.

Just some examples of telephone use in Thailand and maybe some reasons for an overloaded network.

[gharknes]

another point

not only is it difficult to make calls but once connected the voice quality has gone also, they seem have narrowed the bandwidth to an absolute minimum, if find it difficult to understand the other person it is so bad.

Edited May 26, 2006 by gharknes

[manjara]

another point

not only is it difficult to make calls but once connected the voice quality has gone also, they seem have narrowed the bandwidth to an absolute minimum, if find it difficult to understand the other person it is so bad.

I seem to have been cut off, I can only make emergency calls now, since June 1

I never did register my mobile SIM card on AIS, have they now finally got around to cutting me off??

Anyone know? Has this happened to others?

[bazmlb]

another point

not only is it difficult to make calls but once connected the voice quality has gone also, they seem have narrowed the bandwidth to an absolute minimum, if find it difficult to understand the other person it is so bad.

I seem to have been cut off, I can only make emergency calls now, since June 1

I never did register my mobile SIM card on AIS, have they now finally got around to cutting me off??

Anyone know? Has this happened to others?

yes me and a few friends on 12call guess i have to go AIS tomorrow

[ROFL]

yes me and a few friends on 12call guess i have to go AIS tomorrow

You may want to wait a day or two, AIS is DOWN right now. Not congested, its DOWN and has been since TR 5pm.

I was just at the JAY MART store and when I walked in and got the words "do you know why.." they started laughing and said 1 maybe 2 day.

Apparently people have been walking in all day asking them the same question.

I wouldnt be surprised if right now theres some poor fella sitting there shaking in his boots because he forgot to back up the data for the pre-paid accounts.

What a nightmare, it was kind of funny on the sky train tonight watching the people holding their phones in different positions in the hopes of finding a sweet spot.

Good luck

[bazmlb]

my phone just came back online yipeee!

[John K]

A bit of Thaksin satire for your entertainment...

As the Shin corporation beams microwaves into orbit to decay the orbit of Thailand communication satellites.... unsuspecting people in Thailand begin to experience communication failures.

Edited June 2, 2006 by john Krukowski

[sleepyjohn]

If ever there was a case where government should intervene this phone congestion business is it.

There is no doubt that the mobile phone system these days comes under the heading of an "essential service".

What is particularly galling is that 've just discovered these promotions are still being sold!

IMAGINE THAT!

[bazmlb]

It's not just Thailand with these problems, every telephone network in the world is configured in a way so there is a contention ratio, meaning only a certain amount of calls can occur which is a lot less than the level of actual subscribers. This could also happen to the fixed line network if half the people picked their phones up at once and tried to dial the other half that didn't (probably even less than half, maybe 30%)

Getting this ratio right is the hard part, but in this case it seems that there is no upgrading of trunks/base stations to cater for the rate at which calls can be sold.

Stopping the promotions now wont solve the problem overnight as once a habit is formed people usually still keep doing it, see any less cars on the road with the rise in petrol prices? so if phones rates went back up there is little chance of the problems going away so better we live with a highly congested network that is cheap to use rather than a highly congested network that is expensive.

And aren't these the littles quirks that just make Thailand that special place to be?

I'm on 12Call and have never had congestion, only a couple network failures for a few hours.