http://www.bahtsold.com/news?id=1493

Speeding up Thai 3G could help economy

Alcatel: Speeding up 3G could help stimulate economy


Thailand should accelerate its move toward third-generation (3G) mobile services now to stimulate the telecommunications industry and facilitate economic development in light of the crisis, according to Alcatel-Lucent.

Perche: Further delay to dampen the drive

"With the deployment of 3G, we would see positive growth this year for our local operating unit," said Laurent Perche, head of customer solutions and marketing of Alcatel-Lucent Thailand.

The French telecoms equipment company expects 8-12% growth globally in terms of contracts this year.

He said the development of 3G was perceived to have important economic and social impacts as it could stimulate investments of telecom companies, which would in turn create jobs, speed up the development of local content and applications, online content and narrow the digital divide.

Although Thailand is poised to be among the last countries to adopt 3G in Southeast Asia, local operators could turn that into an opportunity by learning from the mistakes of others with mature technologies. As well, more 3G handsets are now available at lower costs.

But Mr Perche said further delay would dampen the drive for industry development and result in lost business opportunities.He said 3G base stations and equipment costs had fallen close to those for the existing 2G networks. They also offer more flexibility as the technology matures.

Dirk Wolter, chief technical officer of Alcatel-Lucent Asia Pacific, said 3G and broadband would be key technologies for economic development and telecom-related industries' revolution.

The second wave of broadband will be based on fibre-optic, high-speed packet access (HSPA) and WiMax.

He said mobile-phone penetration in Thailand was expected to top 100% this year, up from 90.96% last year. Fixed-line telephone penetration is 11.2%, with 6 million users. The rate for broadband was only 2% with one million subscribers out of 12 million internet users.

Mr Wolter said he believed that if broadband licences could be granted by the end of this year, local broadband connectivity could increase to 10% over the next few years and top 70% within 10 years.

Smart phone and data-card users are the targeted customers for the broadband market.

He added that every 10% growth in the broadband penetration rate could translate into 0.6% growth in GDP, based on a research paper.

Mr Wolter said the operators in Thailand would likely go for the 3.5G HSPA technology standard as adopting 3G now would be a bit outdated.

Alcatel-Lucent provides wideband code division multi-access (WCDMA) networks to 56 customers in 37 countries plus 35 commercial WiMax contracts.

End

This would give us the possibilty to get up to 7,5mbs internet connection on laptops and smartphones. But hang on a second...

http://www.intomobile.com/2009/04/21/te ... weden.html

Telenor, Tele2 team-up to build 4G network

Telenor Sweden (DTAC Thailand) and Tele2 Sweden have recently announced an agreement to build a joint 4G network in Sweden. Under the agreement, the two companies will enter a 50-50 joint venture for network construction and sharing of spectrum in the 900MHz and 2600MHz frequency bands. The roll-out of what will be Sweden’s most extensive 4G network will start this year with the intent of launching LTE-based high-speed mobile broadband services in the end of 2010, while at the same time improving voice coverage (GSM) for all customers.

Commenting on the announcement, Telenor Sweden’s CEO, Lars-Åke Norling, said: “This is where the race to 4G begins. By building a joint network and sharing our spectrum we create a whole new playing field on the Swedish market, placing ourselves in pool position to provide high-speed mobile broadband with the best coverage and quality. Sharing this investment ensures cost-efficiency and enables a solid market position in the long run for Telenor in Sweden.”

For the record, according to the two operators’ research, in 2013, 99% of the Swedish population will have access to mobile broadband at speeds of up to 80 Mbit/s in rural areas and up to 150 Mbit/s in urban areas!
End

Seems like Thailand are taking the wrong train!

Is this the real reason Thaksin is so keen to get back?

Has he been promised another mobile phone monopoly?

Alchai wrote:.......... He said mobile-phone penetration in Thailand was expected to top 100% this year, up from 90.96% last year.

An impressive statistic - I assume this must mean that there are quite a few folk with multiple mobile phones

I am surprised the current rate is as low as 91% Jimbo. I cannot think of anyone I know that does not have a mobile phone - that includes when you go out to the villages I guess infants have to wait until they are 5ish before they join the owners club but many, many have more than 2......

I am no expert on 3G and licences but I believe I can remember when the "bidding" by companies in Europe to operate these licences took place that huge sums of money were involved.
I hope that everything will be seen to be above board in Thailand and the best decisions are taken for the country & not for benefit of certain individuals.

they are moronic enough as it is ,in the future you will them like zombies staring into tiny screens all over town .they never read a book or newspaper as it is .thats bad news for Thais ,diabetes is rife expect it to get worse in the future .

Hmm.............I guess all these must be used to line the bottom of the cocky cage then:

Mass-circulation dailies

The Thai government's Public Relations Department publishes a detailed directory of all media in Thailand, listing latest registration information, including radio, TV and printed media. All printed media are tightly owned by a single family or small groups of investors who share familial relationship. None of the media is a true publicly held company where the media owes fiduciary duty to the public.

* Thai Rath - Claiming a circulation of approximately 1 million,[3] this is Thailand's most influential newspaper. Prominently features sensationalist stories on crime and accidents. Its political stance is moderately populist. High circulation is due to its stance on populist issues and its acceptance of the public opinion of the general population, in particular, the majority rural market.
* Daily News - Circulation was claimed to be as high as 900,000 for 2005 [4]. Very similar in style and substance to Thai Rath, somewhat less successful than Thai Rath, because it has less news content than Thai Rath.
* Khao Sod - The third circulation among Thai newspapers behind Thai Rath and Daily News. [5]. Khaosod is a part of Matichon Pcl, a publishing group. Its editorial line is moderate to liberal. Keen on crime news, and also concentrates on environment issues and the rights of ordinary people.

* Kom Chad Luek - Claimed a circulation of approximately 850,000[4] in 2005. Owned by the Nation Multimedia Group. Its political stance is conservative, non-populist, and moderately anti-government. Hence most of its sales are to the business and upper to middle income group, who generally support its non-populistic conservative stance, but are well educated.

Quality dailies

* Matichon - Claims circulation of approximately 600,000 [4]. The flagship publication of Matichon Plc, this paper is considered essential reading for Thailand's educated classes. Its editorial line is moderate to progressive.[6]
* Thai Post - Estimated circulation in 2000 to average approximately 30,000. [7] Its political stance is considered the most progressive of all Thai dailies.
* Naew Na - Estimated daily circulation was claimed to average 300,000 in 2002.[8] Editorial line is progressive.

Business dailies

* Krungthep Turakij - Circulation is in the 80,000-100,000 range. Owned by the Nation Multimedia Group. This paper is also popular with Thai intellectuals. Political stance is progressive.
* Post Today - Has circulation of approximately 100,000. Owned by Post Publishing Pcl, publishers of the Bangkok Post.
* Phoojadkarn Daily - Circulation is around 100,000. This is the core asset of Sondhi Limthongkul's media empire, Manager Media Group. The online edition of the paper is Thailand's most popular news website.

English-language dailies

* Bangkok Post - Circulation is approximately 75,000. Its major shareholders include the Chirathivat family (owners of Central Group), the South China Morning Post of Hong Kong and GMM Grammy Pcl, a local media and entertainment firm.
* The Nation - Circulation is in the 60,000-80,000 range. It is the flagship publication of the Nation Multimedia Group. Maintains a progressive editorial line.
* International Herald Tribune - Circulation is somewhere in the 5,000-10,000 range. I

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_of_Thailand

damned statistics again ,but lets see when did you last see someone reading a book or paper on the skytrain ?i cant remember 1 case ,same on the underground and buses hardly ever, if ever.maybe the odd student reading a text book .
so where are all these readers ? in the eateries ? nope they are not there . In the park ? nope not there .coffee bars ? nope, none there .i dont recall ever seeing a Thai with a rolled up paper under his arm for a read somewhere..
The only readers i can remember are in those Bookazine type places and they are browsers that never buy anything. BGs used to be seen reading comics but that seems rare as well nowadays .more likely to be fiddling with a phone .so to sum up there must be a lot of closet readers somewhere cos they dont read in Public such as you might see on the London underground where virtually every passenger is reading a paper or book or PDA or notepad etc .

izzie when they put a skytrain station in at Ban Dung, I will do some research, and get back to you. In the meantime you just make yourself look silly by saying "they" - meaning all Thais - are zombies, and never read books or newspapers etc.

And have you ever considered that "they' may not have the same public reading habits as your average Pom in the UK?

He has a good point though Jack, I can't recall one time in 11 or more years coming to Thailand that I've seen a Thai reading a newspaper

I've seen many Thai people on the Thai flights between Udon & Bangkok reading the Thai newspapers (they are free) and also in the lobbies of hotels I have stayed in in Thailand where they are frequently on those split bamboo(?) rods.

I know many Thai people who read, write and speak fluently in English as well as Thai - sadly I know no westerners who can do the equivalent.

Hi,
To get back to the subject. 3G is old hat, It was developed in the Isle of Man, 2003 and brought out beginning of 2004, five years ago, a long time in electronics. I know this is a fact because i used to work in the Isle of Man College at that time when a group of people from the far east came to the Island to develope the 3G phone. Seeing it was a Tech. college they used to come up at times to use some equipment. They worked at the Tromode Sat. station about 2 miles out of Douglas the capital.
Cheers Doug.

izzix wrote:damned statistics again ,but lets see when did you last see someone reading a book or paper on the skytrain ?i cant remember 1 case ,same on the underground and buses hardly ever, if ever.maybe the odd student reading a text book .
so where are all these readers ? in the eateries ? nope they are not there . In the park ? nope not there .coffee bars ? nope, none there .i dont recall ever seeing a Thai with a rolled up paper under his arm for a read somewhere..
The only readers i can remember are in those Bookazine type places and they are browsers that never buy anything. BGs used to be seen reading comics but that seems rare as well nowadays .more likely to be fiddling with a phone .so to sum up there must be a lot of closet readers somewhere cos they dont read in Public such as you might see on the London underground where virtually every passenger is reading a paper or book or PDA or notepad etc .

I, for one, always take a book with me when traveling on the sky train or on the underground and I have seen Thais reading on both those forms of transportation over the 4 years that I lived in the Bangkok area (yes, the underground was not around that entire time). In my local coffee bars, it was difficult to pick up the Thai language newspapers that they had available for customers, because they were usually being read, as well as many of the magazines that they had available for their customers to read. The same is true for the newspapers in many restaurants that I frequented, where I was almost always the only foreigner.

Concerning book stores in the Bangkok area, it was quite rare that I did not have a wait in the queue along with many other customers buying books. One bookstore that I frequented, which catered to academics, just north of Bangkok, I had NEVER seen an American or European, despite the fact that almost all the books (I am sure there might have been a Thai book somewhere) were in English! As far as not seeing anyone reading, you obviously hang around a different group of Thais in the Bangkok area than I do. Hell, I just looked at the headboard of my bed and counted more than a dozen books and few magazines on the headboard shelf that are out of place, not on the bookshelves; nearly all of them belonging to my Thai wife, which she reads through at night.

izzix wrote, "they are moronic enough as it is ,in the future you will them like zombies staring into tiny screens all over town .they never read a book or newspaper as it is .thats bad news for Thais ,diabetes is rife expect it to get worse in the future ."

I wasn't aware that reading a book or newspaper was a cure for diabetes.