DTAC TriNet to kick off 4G service in April

[lomatopo]

Coverage is limited...

Dtac launches 4G services in Bangkok

Thursday 8 May 2014 | 16:15 CET | News

Thai mobile operator Dtac has launched 4G services in capital Bangkok, the operator said in a statement. Dtac said that the new service will be available at 300 base stations covering inner Bangkok areas including Silom, Sathorn, Rama 4, Sukhumvit, Rama 9 and Ratchada. The operator estimates that there are over 500,000 smartphones and tablets in the service areas. The company said that it will offer a 4G free trial of 4 GB for four months.

[2008bangkok]

I'm talking about 3G

[Sandman77]

The lte is useless in my opinion

Also when it would be avalible in my area I will keep my old 599 baht promotion!

With same data limitation on lte

Means you can reach your data limit earlier then on 3G pay double price!

True using a lower 3G then trinet!

Means more towers must be installed outside city's to cover same area with signal

It's also a question of money

Install the double number of signal towers nation wide only because of a higher frequency !

But the Norwegian telenor have enough money to handle this!

It's only a question of time!

[lomatopo]

Means you can reach your data limit earlier then on 3G pay double price!

Well that is certainly one, albeit obtuse, way of looking at having higher access speeds. Another way would be to see that, assuming your consumption stayed the same, then everything you do would happen that much faster.

Maybe an easy to understand analogy would that if you consumed 60 liters of water each month, and you installed a much larger faucet in your kitchen, one which doubled or tripled the flow rate, would you drink more water each month? Meh, probably not, but you would fill your glass two or three times faster.

For the most part, 4G will be positioned as free, or as TrueMove H have done, charged a slight premium (99 baht/month). Higher access speeds are one potential benefit for customers - perhaps paying for it in increased battery consumption, but 4G/LTE really gives operators more density.

[Glock3am]

I just switched to a 4G-ready TriNet SIM today and have thus joined the 4-month trial. During this period they are offering 4 GB of 4G speed per month for free on top of your regular 3G cap, which is a pretty great deal IMO.

Unfortunately, it seems I haven't been near a capable tower yet as my phone hasn't switched to LTE yet, but I will keep a close eye on it in the next few days as I'll travel around more centrally.

In the process of upgrading I was able to grab a brochure for the plans they will be offering and I must say they seem pretty generous - yes, they are more expensive, but only by 100-300 baht here or there. The real draw is that they are offering quite a lot of extra data for the first 12 months as a bonus - it mentions "new" customers, but I hope that means existing customers new to those plans and not just completely new DTAC registrations. E.g. On the top More Net plan of 1299 THB per month, you get 5 GB of 3G/4G data and a bonus of 3GB + 5 GB 3G/4G for the first 12 months, giving a total of 13 GB at 3G/4G speeds.

Things look a little grimmer once the 12 months is up though - my current More Net plan offering 4 GB of data for 700 baht per month no longer exists, indeed you are paying more for less now (3 GB of data for 799 baht per month) however it will be worth it for the speed increase IMO.

The new plans are already up here for those who are interested: http://www.dtac.co.th/postpaid/products/smartphone-more-net.html

You can draw up a cheaper plan using the More Choice plan, 5 GB of data and less calls for 929 baht versus the More Net 5 GB of data at 1299 baht though they do not mention 4G speeds, only 3G, so I believe they are only offering 4G in the More Net packages.

Edited May 10, 2014 by Glock3am

[lomatopo]

my current More Net plan offering 4 GB of data for 700 baht per month no longer exists, indeed you are paying more for less now (3 GB of data for 799 baht per month)

In the current More Net 799 (post-paid) promotion one gets 350 voice minutes (all networks); 3 GB (FuP is 128 Kbps) with an additional allotment of 1 GB for 12 months, another 3 GB of 4G for 12 months, so maybe 7 GB for 12 months, if one assumes the free 4G is either usable or can be consumed as 3G as well.

There are post-paid data-only options.

TrueMove H and AIS have similar promotional options, including 2x data over periods from 12 to 18 months.

If you purchase a new phone, some of the included promotional bundles offer pretty decent discounts: DTAC is selling the Nexus 5 for 12,900, and you can get a 449 baht/month plan which includes 250 voice minutes and 3 GB of data for 15 months.

[Glock3am]

my current More Net plan offering 4 GB of data for 700 baht per month no longer exists, indeed you are paying more for less now (3 GB of data for 799 baht per month)

In the current More Net 799 (post-paid) promotion one gets 350 voice minutes (all networks); 3 GB (FuP is 128 Kbps) with an additional allotment of 1 GB for 12 months, another 3 GB of 4G for 12 months, so maybe 7 GB for 12 months, if one assumes the free 4G is either usable or can be consumed as 3G as well.

There are post-paid data-only options.

TrueMove H and AIS have similar promotional options, including 2x data over periods from 12 to 18 months.

If you purchase a new phone, some of the included promotional bundles offer pretty decent discounts: DTAC is selling the Nexus 5 for 12,900, and you can get a 449 baht/month plan which includes 250 voice minutes and 3 GB of data for 15 months.

Yes, but as I mentioned that extra data appears to be only for the first 12 months as an incentive for new adopters of the plans. After 12 months I assume the data will revert to the standard amount, which is a worse deal than the current plans (4 GB for 700 baht versus 3 GB for 799 baht).

All of the documentation shows data as 3G/4G so I assume they are considering it as all part of the same overall data amount. I was hoping they would have a setup like X GB of 4G data, then you are shaped to X GB of 3G data and then once that is gone you are limited to the (useless) 128 Kbps cap, but it appears that will not be the case. Either way the 4G areas should help to reduce data congestion overall and perhaps in the future the lowest form of shaping may indeed be 3G rather than 128 Kbps, which would be a fantastic development. I am sure that will be many years (decades?) before it is a reality. Telcos make far too much profit from it to want to change the system. Thailand is actually fantastically cheap for mobile data and Internet service in general compared to some countries (in particular Australia) so I'm pretty happy with it really.

Edited May 11, 2014 by Glock3am

[lomatopo]

FWIW, it looks like one can utilize 4G with certain pre-paid (Happy) plans, along with a 2x allotment:

http://www.dtac.co.th/prepaid/products/Happy-internet-package.html

[build6]

has anyone with a prepaid SIM been able to connect to the DTAC 4G network so far??

(will we need to go exchange SIMs...)

EDIT - ok just re-read Glock3am (late night shooting??) so one has to exchange a SIM...

Edited May 12, 2014 by build6

[lomatopo]

If you have a newer Tri-NET SIM you should be good to go.

http://www.dtac.co.th/4g/index-en.php

*364# send

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=th.co.dtac.im4

[build6]

If you have a newer Tri-NET SIM you should be good to go.

http://www.dtac.co.th/4g/index-en.php

*364# send

haha don't you mean *364*9#?

anyways I tried it and yay, my SIM is ok. but when I try *2014*9#, I'm told "This package cannot be subscribed" - I suppose this is because I'm on prepaid? Or am I required to subscribe to one of those "4G ready" prepaid packages first? (I'm not sure I want to 400+ baht on an experiment - does anybody already know?)

[Sandman77]

Does dtac also have free wifi towers like true?

A friend have one in front of his house 20 Mbit unlimited free!

Does dtac also have a hidden fair use policy?

When I reach 10,3 gigabyte in one month the speed goes down to 1 kb on true h until month finish

[lomatopo]

Maybe try *2014*# Send?

Or contact DTAC, they reply to my emails to [email protected] within a few hours, in English.

You may need to update the firmware on your device, and change you network selection settings: Setting> Mobile Network> Network Mode Select GSM / WCDMA / LTE auto (GSM / WCDMA / LTE auto) or (GSM / WCDMA / 4G)

DTAC has very limited WiFi: http://www.dtac.co.th/en/trinet/wifinetwork.html

They include free WiFi in some plans.

DTAC has published (not hidden) Fair-use Policies on any/all plans which allow for unlimited internet access with speeds ranging from 64 to 384 Kbps. They may offer the option to purchase 1 GB for 150 baht once you reach your FuP cap.

Edited May 14, 2014 by lomatopo

[Glock3am]

If you have a newer Tri-NET SIM you should be good to go.

http://www.dtac.co.th/4g/index-en.php

*364# send

haha don't you mean *364*9#?

anyways I tried it and yay, my SIM is ok. but when I try *2014*9#, I'm told "This package cannot be subscribed" - I suppose this is because I'm on prepaid? Or am I required to subscribe to one of those "4G ready" prepaid packages first? (I'm not sure I want to 400+ baht on an experiment - does anybody already know?)

The reason is because the 4G service is only a trial at the moment (for 4 months). As I understand it, only postpaid subscribers on plans above 300 baht are eligible for the trial, which would be why you are getting the error message.

Edit: Actually, I'm wrong, prepaid is eligible, you just need to be a subscriber of the monthly Internet package above 399 baht.

From the small print here: http://www.dtac.co.th/4g/index-en.php

This privilege is for dtac TriNet prepaid and postpaid customers who have applied an unlimited Internet package starting at 399 Baht as specified by the service provider. 4G is available in the service areas and can be enjoyed for free for 4GB/month up to 4 months.

Edited May 15, 2014 by Glock3am

[lomatopo]

^ Yes, this is how I understand the current trial re: pre-paid customers. You'd have to be a current 399/1.5 GB, or higher, unlimited customer - or you could of course change to one of these "4G-ready" plans.

Edited May 15, 2014 by lomatopo

[build6]

Got it, thanks guys. I'll be back in Bangkok early June, I'll try out a monthly package then!

[sjonburi]

Been running 4G in Pattaya since about a week, pretty good speeds 16.73 mb down, 1.75 mn up. faster than what I get @ home with Wi-Fi

[Glock3am]

I finally had my first taste of 4G while travelling in a taxi near the Democracy Monument of all places last night. I quickly opened the Speedtest app before I lost it and obtained the following results:

Download: 19.93 Mpbs

Upload: 5.79 Mbps

Ping: 40 Mbps

It's not a huge increase over what I get on 3G but it is faster for sure.

[Asia2000]

Ais 2100 3G internet package. Location Central Pattaya. 3G? 4G? Not with my Ais

Sent from my GT-I8552 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[lomatopo]

The dilemma with AIS is that they have the most customers: ~ 40 million in total and ~ 26 million of those are on the same 15 MHz slice of 2100 MHz spectrum - and most of these are using mobile data. Meanwhile TrueMove H has the same 15 MHz of 2100 MHz, along with another 15 MHz of 850 MHz (via their deal with CAT), and very few customers. DTAC has the most spectrum (850, 1800, 2100) albeit spread out over a lot of customers (28.2 million).

So, as a result of AIS's success, you are sharing a fixed amount of spectrum with a lot of other users, and as a result your actual performance may suffer.

DTAC's 4G, based on the speedtest results posted on Thai social/tech forums, seems to be currently optimized for more synchronous upload/download?

DTAC/2100/3G (2100 MHz)/Bangkok

Ookla and testmy.net (SG):

Edited May 19, 2014 by lomatopo

[2008bangkok]

You know it's all very well having the 30-40-50mb/s speeds which 4g is going to give but I'm yet to see any point in it, almost all web pages are optimized for mobile and the only thig you really need is VoIP and Video as advertised by the big 3 3G should be able to give 42mb/s but iv never spoke with anybody who has gotten close to that off 3G.

Dtac should jut concentrate on getting everyone who has a 3G connection a speed over 10mb and make sure it's consistent over there whole network because once you start to get out of the city and by thy I mean 5 miles out the 3G is non existent.

Edited May 19, 2014 by 2008bangkok

[Glock3am]

You know it's all very well having the 30-40-50mb/s speeds which 4g is going to give but I'm yet to see any point in it, almost all web pages are optimized for mobile and the only thig you really need is VoIP and Video as advertised by the big 3 3G should be able to give 42mb/s but iv never spoke with anybody who has gotten close to that off 3G.

Dtac should jut concentrate on getting everyone who has a 3G connection a speed over 10mb and make sure it's consistent over there whole network because once you start to get out of the city and by thy I mean 5 miles out the 3G is non existent.

I guess you don't watch many YouTube videos or other streaming audio and video content? They can still suffer from buffering issues on 3G connections, and I'm not talking about HD quality either.

Not to mention people who tether their mobile connections or use aircards for their regular Internet who certainly would welcome faster speeds.

It's not just about webpages.

[2008bangkok]

^^^^^did you ready my post where I put VoIP and video?

Plus you didn't get the point f my post, to stream audio and video only needs a proper 3G connection as Dtac offer this as 42mb so if they it that right there would be no need for 4g or are you saying that you need 41mb + to stream audio and video ??

Edited May 19, 2014 by 2008bangkok

[lomatopo]

4G/LTE is more of a benefit for operators, than it is for customers, as it gives them a lot more density (more efficient use of limited spectrum).

Agree that 3G is probably good enough for many of today's mobile apps. And I am still getting much better performance (download speed anyway) with DTAC/3G than many of the DTAC/LTE Speedtest results I've seen posted in the past week or so.

In addition to DTAC's 850 MHz 3G deployments, they expect to have 10,800 3G/2100 MHz base-stations covering 85% of the population (not geography). So coverage should be pretty decent. TrueMove H probably have better geographical coverage with their 850 MHz deal with CAT. And AIS is said to be covering ~ 95 + % of the population today with their 15 MHz slice of 2100 MHz.

Again, this is just a trial, much like TrueMove H's while we wait for the 1800 MHz spectrum auction.

There are a limited number of LTE-capable devices in the hands of consumers today, and a large percentage of those are in metro-Bangkok

Edited May 19, 2014 by lomatopo

[IsaanUSA]

You know it's all very well having the 30-40-50mb/s speeds which 4g is going to give but I'm yet to see any point in it, almost all web pages are optimized for mobile and the only thig you really need is VoIP and Video as advertised by the big 3 3G should be able to give 42mb/s but iv never spoke with anybody who has gotten close to that off 3G.

Dtac should jut concentrate on getting everyone who has a 3G connection a speed over 10mb and make sure it's consistent over there whole network because once you start to get out of the city and by thy I mean 5 miles out the 3G is non existent.

I understand what you are saying and agree with your idea. All this new technology is great, but if the backhaul is not also upgraded or the network can't keep up with customer growth, it's pointless to us as consumers. The Gs dont matter, we just would like consistently higher speeds!

I do not live in Thailand, but the 4G speeds I receive on my carrier in the US (Sprint) have finally caught up to the 3G speeds we had before the iPhone came out. It's nice to be able to stream YouTube videos again.

[lomatopo]

I finally updated my phone and plan so am now seeing LTE in/around metro-Bangkok. LTE speeds are more symmetrical (12 Mbps/9/Mps) than 3G (25 Mbps/3Mbps), and it's free.

[bubba]

The dilemma with AIS is that they have the most customers: ~ 40 million in total and ~ 26 million of those are on the same 15 MHz slice of 2100 MHz spectrum - and most of these are using mobile data. Meanwhile TrueMove H has the same 15 MHz of 2100 MHz, along with another 15 MHz of 850 MHz (via their deal with CAT), and very few customers. DTAC has the most spectrum (850, 1800, 2100) albeit spread out over a lot of customers (28.2 million).

So, as a result of AIS's success, you are sharing a fixed amount of spectrum with a lot of other users, and as a result your actual performance may suffer.

DTAC's 4G, based on the speedtest results posted on Thai social/tech forums, seems to be currently optimized for more synchronous upload/download?

DTAC/2100/3G (2100 MHz)/Bangkok

Ookla and testmy.net (SG):

Agree completely. I dumped AIS months ago as in certain places such as the airport, bandwidth was insufficient to even check email.

My latest SpeedTest connected to DTAC 4G was:

Download: 21.17 Mbps

Upload: 10.20 Mbps

I'm happy with those numbers.

[Glock3am]

Bit of a thread update.

As of last night around the evening time, I have suddenly started picking up a 4G signal all over Bangkok in areas I did not get it before! Such areas include Ladprao and Pinklao and various ones in between. Could DTAC have suddenly rolled out to a lot more areas despite the delay in the frequency auction?

It certainly appears so, though I must say in the two areas mentioned the signal is not particularly strong, I'm missing a full bar on my S5 and the download in both areas is merely around 2 Mb, considerably less than what I get on 3G. The upload is quite good though with speeds up to 10 Mb. Promising signs for a full city-wide rollout though!

[IMHO]

3G is capable of 42mbps, and no-one on 4G seems to be getting even half of that... what's the point if the infra can't keep up?

[Sandman77]

Call it 5g or 6g In future for a normal smartphone users it makes no diffrent using 4 or 3G only that data used up faster we need unlimited dataplan and lower price 10 dollar for 15 gigs like in cambodia , not marketing nonsens and play with numbers!