The Assistive Technology Programme of the National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre has developed a road map gicing direction to its efforts to create equality for disabled people and increase their quality of life.
Programme director Wantanee Phantachat said her organisation's work had been divided into four areas: mobility, communication, information- and communications-technology access and living independently.
In the area of the mobility, the programme is researching and developing a leg prosthesis for people whose need extends to an artificial knee joint. Using reverse engineering, it expects to develop a prototype with the help of local partners and donduct clinical trials this year.
The programme is also negotiating with potential private-sector partners who will be able to transfer knowledge in the process of developing the prosthesis as an industrial trial before developing it for commercial production whithin the next few years.
"We expect the programme and the partnership to be able to produce a leg prosthesis that is affordable - perhaps half the price of international products," Wantanee said.
She said in the second area, communication, the programme was negotiating with Chiang Mai University for development of clinical trials of a digital hearing aid that waks bundled with Bluetooth and microphone functions. The goal was to develop hearing aids for local people with hearing problems.
"We are developing a digital hearing-aid device bundled with assistive hearing systems and Bluetooth tehcnology and expect it to be finished by the end of next year," Wantanee said.
For people with learning disabilities, the programme is planning to develop an electronic device that incorporates wor prediction, spelling checks and a talking word processor. This will help children and people who have problems comprehending normal communications.
Finally, in order to help disabled people live independent lives, the programme is developing environmental control units, or electronic devices that use infrared and radio frequencies to remotely switch home electrical appliances on and off and transmit alert or emergency calls to relatives, parents or neighbours in the case of accidents.
As well, the programme is developing "telerahabilitation" for disabled people via the Internet. It is expected to be available in the near future.
"We are working with partners to develop local assistive-technology devices that will reduce the costs of importing these products as well as helping disabled people to enjoy a better quality of life," Wantanee said.
Earlier this year, the Nation Telecommunications Commission (NTC) signed a memorial of understanding with the Thailand Association for the Blind, implementing a project that will provide access to DaisyDigital Accessible Information. Callers to a four-digit telephone number will receive an automatic feed of DaisyDigital talking content. The project targets about 200,000 people with visual impariment and about 600,000 with reading disabilities.
The memorandum also provides for training of trainers in the use of computers and information technology and in the production of media and content for the blind.
Friday, September 25, 2009
JUDGE BELIEVES TOT'S CASE AGAINST NTC SHOULD BE DISMISSED, SAYS SOURCE
The Central Administrative Court judge overseeing the TOT complaint against the national telecom regulator for violating the Telecom Act believes the case should be dismissed.
A source yesterday said the judge felt the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) had complied with its regulations in ordering TOT to integrate - or "translate" - all of the new phone numbers of other networks into its network system.
The judge yesterday read his opinion on the case to a quorum of judges, TOT, all six NTC members, NTC secretary-general Suranan Wongvithayakamjorn and representatives of True Move and Total Access Communication (DTAC).
The NTC members are the first defendants, Suranan is the second defendant and True Move and DTAC are the third defendants.
Court procedure dictates the judge overseeing a case will read his opinion to a quorum of judges considering the case. They will deliver a verdict later, which can either uphold or differ from the opinion of the judge overseeing the case.
The source said the court would deliver its verdict in the case on October 9.
A telecom company needs all other operators to integrate, or "translate", its new numbers into their switching systems, so that the numbers are recognised by the other networks.
The dispute began in January 2007, when DTAC asked the Central Administrative Court to issue an injunction against TOT because it refused to integrate each of the 1.5 million new phone numbers from DTAC - and True Move - into its network.
TOT's refusal to register the new numbers means calls from TOT's telephones cannot reach the new numbers belonging to DTAC and True Move.
The court later issued an injunction ordering TOT to connect its subscribers to DTAC's new phone users, in order to avoid problems for consumers. That ruling remains in effect until the case has been completely investigated or the court decides otherwise.
At the same time, the NTC also ordered TOT to translate the new numbers into the state agency's system, prompting TOT to accuse the NTC of violating the Telecom Act.
TOT said while the law required telecom licensees to allow other licensees access to their networks, TOT did not regard DTAC and True Move as NTC licensees.
A source yesterday said the judge felt the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) had complied with its regulations in ordering TOT to integrate - or "translate" - all of the new phone numbers of other networks into its network system.
The judge yesterday read his opinion on the case to a quorum of judges, TOT, all six NTC members, NTC secretary-general Suranan Wongvithayakamjorn and representatives of True Move and Total Access Communication (DTAC).
The NTC members are the first defendants, Suranan is the second defendant and True Move and DTAC are the third defendants.
Court procedure dictates the judge overseeing a case will read his opinion to a quorum of judges considering the case. They will deliver a verdict later, which can either uphold or differ from the opinion of the judge overseeing the case.
The source said the court would deliver its verdict in the case on October 9.
A telecom company needs all other operators to integrate, or "translate", its new numbers into their switching systems, so that the numbers are recognised by the other networks.
The dispute began in January 2007, when DTAC asked the Central Administrative Court to issue an injunction against TOT because it refused to integrate each of the 1.5 million new phone numbers from DTAC - and True Move - into its network.
TOT's refusal to register the new numbers means calls from TOT's telephones cannot reach the new numbers belonging to DTAC and True Move.
The court later issued an injunction ordering TOT to connect its subscribers to DTAC's new phone users, in order to avoid problems for consumers. That ruling remains in effect until the case has been completely investigated or the court decides otherwise.
At the same time, the NTC also ordered TOT to translate the new numbers into the state agency's system, prompting TOT to accuse the NTC of violating the Telecom Act.
TOT said while the law required telecom licensees to allow other licensees access to their networks, TOT did not regard DTAC and True Move as NTC licensees.
Sound familiar?
Your TOT crossed its heart and hoped to die if it fails to have actual third-generation mobile phone service in a little corner of Bangkok before New Year's Eve; Vichien Narkseenuan, the firm's senior executive president for vice, said he expects to sign a deal Real Soon Now with a socalled mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that will carry the TOT service,although no names, please; Mr Vichien promised "about" 500,000 numbers would be available; real yuppiephone networks scoffed at the TOT offer to let them in on the deal, because they fear that if they rent a network now, the National Telecommunications Commission won't let them bid for a licence to run their own 3G services.
Vichien Narkseenuan, the senior executive president of vice for your TOT ,said that the state monopoly plans to open a third-generation (3G) phone service with 100,000 numbers, and serving the entire country; TOT has no intention of building its own base stations,though, and will rent them from real phone companies; Mr Vichien forgot to mention when this nationwide 3G service might start for the lucky 100,000.
The National Telecommunications Commission announced it will open public hearings on third generation phones next Monday; Prasert Aphipunya, secretary in charge of vice for the NTC, said you should bring along a large truck load of money if you want to start the bidding for licences, say,oh, somewhere around 10 billion-witha-"b" baht; after next weeks' hearing,there will be a notice in the Royal Gazette ,and actual bidding for four (and only four) available licences may open as early as December; rules on all of this should be up on the NTC's website by now at www.ntc.co.th.
For the third time in a row, the strug-gling TT&T company won a multibillion-baht lawsuit against your TOT and for the third time in a row your TOT told them to pound sand; this time,an agree-upon arbitrator decided that TOT owed the up-country phone provider 2.3 billion baht in misguided revenue sharing for long distance calls;but TOT president Varut Suvakorn rejected the arbitration and told TT&T,"See ya in court, boys"; in case the Administrative Court rules against TOT yet again, Mr Varut said he was pretty sure the state firm didn't have that kind of money to pay off anyhow; TT&T explained that lawsuit number four is about to be filed.
No 2 yuppiephone firm DTAC of Norway opened its new headquarters in new Chamchuri Square , bragging that it spent one billion baht on the 19-floor (!) digs; all 3,200 DTAC employees relocated from the Chai Building to the new location at the Sam Yan intersection,overlooking Chulalongkorn University;CEO Tore Johnsen signed a 10-year lease for the 61,160-square-metre office,which includes the firm's main call centre; Mr Johnsen said new staff will work harder to pay the extra rent money; the kicker is that DTAC is asking the following price for the Chai Building one billion baht; Mr Johnsen said that DTAC was pressing ahead aggressively on its 3G trials and so on and etc and zzzzzzz.
Energy Minister Wannarat Channukul, apparently unaware that you can't spell "Thaksin" without "hub", said that Asean should become the energy exporting hub of the world; no, really,his reasoning is that Southeast Asia has so much food that it can make biofuels galore and sell it to the world at Arabesque profits; not only does Southeast Asia (sic) have a lot of extra food to feed the world's cars, it's, well, better "higher yields and more commercially viable for biofuel than corn and beetroot" from the US and Europe; to coin a phrase, in the klongs there are fish and in the fields there are biofuels.
Energy Minister Wannarat Channukul called in state firms and phuyai of the private sector for a heart-to-heart joint statement that everyone would cooperate on saving energy; this year's spin is that the programme will "save"100 billion baht, and Mr Wannarat got away unchallenged with a claim that a similar project last year saved 30 billion baht; the deal is that the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) and the Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC) and so on - 30,000 firms altogether - will work on conservation, purchase green technology and so on, and in return they will get some tax breaks and subsidies on loans taken through the energy services company fund (Esco); the minister is looking for one billion baht to fund Esco this year.
Vichien Narkseenuan, the senior executive president of vice for your TOT ,said that the state monopoly plans to open a third-generation (3G) phone service with 100,000 numbers, and serving the entire country; TOT has no intention of building its own base stations,though, and will rent them from real phone companies; Mr Vichien forgot to mention when this nationwide 3G service might start for the lucky 100,000.
The National Telecommunications Commission announced it will open public hearings on third generation phones next Monday; Prasert Aphipunya, secretary in charge of vice for the NTC, said you should bring along a large truck load of money if you want to start the bidding for licences, say,oh, somewhere around 10 billion-witha-"b" baht; after next weeks' hearing,there will be a notice in the Royal Gazette ,and actual bidding for four (and only four) available licences may open as early as December; rules on all of this should be up on the NTC's website by now at www.ntc.co.th.
For the third time in a row, the strug-gling TT&T company won a multibillion-baht lawsuit against your TOT and for the third time in a row your TOT told them to pound sand; this time,an agree-upon arbitrator decided that TOT owed the up-country phone provider 2.3 billion baht in misguided revenue sharing for long distance calls;but TOT president Varut Suvakorn rejected the arbitration and told TT&T,"See ya in court, boys"; in case the Administrative Court rules against TOT yet again, Mr Varut said he was pretty sure the state firm didn't have that kind of money to pay off anyhow; TT&T explained that lawsuit number four is about to be filed.
No 2 yuppiephone firm DTAC of Norway opened its new headquarters in new Chamchuri Square , bragging that it spent one billion baht on the 19-floor (!) digs; all 3,200 DTAC employees relocated from the Chai Building to the new location at the Sam Yan intersection,overlooking Chulalongkorn University;CEO Tore Johnsen signed a 10-year lease for the 61,160-square-metre office,which includes the firm's main call centre; Mr Johnsen said new staff will work harder to pay the extra rent money; the kicker is that DTAC is asking the following price for the Chai Building one billion baht; Mr Johnsen said that DTAC was pressing ahead aggressively on its 3G trials and so on and etc and zzzzzzz.
Energy Minister Wannarat Channukul, apparently unaware that you can't spell "Thaksin" without "hub", said that Asean should become the energy exporting hub of the world; no, really,his reasoning is that Southeast Asia has so much food that it can make biofuels galore and sell it to the world at Arabesque profits; not only does Southeast Asia (sic) have a lot of extra food to feed the world's cars, it's, well, better "higher yields and more commercially viable for biofuel than corn and beetroot" from the US and Europe; to coin a phrase, in the klongs there are fish and in the fields there are biofuels.
Energy Minister Wannarat Channukul called in state firms and phuyai of the private sector for a heart-to-heart joint statement that everyone would cooperate on saving energy; this year's spin is that the programme will "save"100 billion baht, and Mr Wannarat got away unchallenged with a claim that a similar project last year saved 30 billion baht; the deal is that the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) and the Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC) and so on - 30,000 firms altogether - will work on conservation, purchase green technology and so on, and in return they will get some tax breaks and subsidies on loans taken through the energy services company fund (Esco); the minister is looking for one billion baht to fund Esco this year.
A piece of the action
And the crowd went wild as Steve "President for Life" Jobs of Apple Computer came out on the stage to emcee the now-annual September music sales pitch, with loads of new stuff; in the biggest news, the iPod Nano got a video camera and FM radio, and Steve showed off the new iTunes Ver 9 management software; he also showed off the iPhone OS 3.1, available for download, which actually recommends apps you might like, has better synching for music and video, and lets you save video from email attachments into your playlist, aka Camera Roll.
Apple cut the prices of its old iPod models just hours ahead of announcing new iPod models; the price of the 32-gigabyte iPod Touch was cut $120 to $279, or 9,500 baht in real money; a 120-gig iPod Classic now costs $229, a $20 cut by the generous folks who run Apple. Palm introduced a smaller,cheaper smartphone than the successful Pre; the Pixi, as it's called, is aimed at younger users; it's slimmer, has a smaller screen, but features a Qwerty keyboard,8GB of memory and a two-megapixel camera.
US President Barack Obama, in a controversial school-time speech to most US children, advised them to be careful about what they put on Facebook and other social networks;"Whatever you do, it will be pulled up again later somewhere in your life," he warned.
First Solar of America signed a contract with the Chinese government to build the world's largest solar power plant in Inner Mongolia; assuming it is built, the Ordos City plant will push out 2,000 megawatts of electricity,around four times the size of the projects being built by the US Army in the Mojave Desert and by First Solar in California;the China project isn't near anything much; Ordos City is a coal-producing,eight-year-old, planned low-carbon development with about 1.5 million residents, roughly 800km west of Beijing.
Networking firm Huawei of China,which has suffered a scandal or two in its Thailand work, was stung to the quick by mean stories in the Australian media that it might be tied to the Chinese espionage services; Guo Fulin, managing director of Huawei in Australia, was hurt by the insensitive stories that his company was under investigation by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation; Huawei is a public-owned company, he said, and it is unthinkable that any government agency would be using Huawei to conduct spying.
The government of Cuba took a huge security gamble, and authorised post offices to provide Internet access to the public - just in case the Cuban government ever authorises the public to use the Internet at some point in the future; the only public access currently allowed is to an inside-Cuba intranet for email, provided by post offices at a cost of the equivalent of 55 baht an hour, in a country where the average wage is 680 baht a month.
Japan fired an unmanned cargo craft into orbit; the 16.5-tonne unmanned H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) is on a mission to re-supply the space station;it will stay up there to continue ferrying stuff to the US shuttle fleet next year.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown publicly apologised for the way that people treated World War Two code-breaker and extraordinary computer geek Alan Turing for being gay; Turing was prosecuted for homosexual conduct in 1952,and a mere two years later, he committed suicide;"I am pleased to have the chance how deeply sorry I and we all are," said Mr Brown.
Google , which plans to give away grazillions of books in order to get the (commercial) goods on its customers,offered to let all its opponents have a piece of the action;Amazon.com , which wants to sell grazillions of books to make tonnes of money directly, scoffed.Rupert Murdoch, the American media mogul, began collecting money at the tollgate to his news sites, in an interesting experiment to see if people will actually pay for news on the Net.
IBM, Microsoft, Oracle Corp and Google all responded to a plaintive "Help" from the Newspaper Association of America on how to get money from customers who don't want to pay for news; Randy Bennett, who is the senior president for vice in newspapers, said he's looking over 11 different proposals on how to squeeze money out of you;Google, to no one's surprise, offered to put all newspapers behind one vast,semi-expensive firewall, because that would be so convenient for everyone to just pay one company one time, and then Google would spread the money around; sure, that ought to work.
South African technology firm Unlimited IT dispatched Winston, a pigeon,from its office in Pietermaritzburg, with some data for its main hub in Durban strapped to the bird's leg; it took Winston one hour and eight minutes to fly the data card; meanwhile, Unlimited IT tried to send the same data via the speedchallenged Internet connections provided by leading Internet Telkom , and that download was four percent finished by the time Winston arrived; so it's not only countries that start with "T" that have Internet problems.
T-Mobile of Germany and Orange of France merged their yuppiephone operations in Britain, creating a new $13.5 billion company with 28.4 mobile phone customers; the Deutsche Telekom-France Telecom venture will be the biggest provider in the UK, with a 37 percent market share, larger than O2 of Telefonica.
Apple cut the prices of its old iPod models just hours ahead of announcing new iPod models; the price of the 32-gigabyte iPod Touch was cut $120 to $279, or 9,500 baht in real money; a 120-gig iPod Classic now costs $229, a $20 cut by the generous folks who run Apple. Palm introduced a smaller,cheaper smartphone than the successful Pre; the Pixi, as it's called, is aimed at younger users; it's slimmer, has a smaller screen, but features a Qwerty keyboard,8GB of memory and a two-megapixel camera.
US President Barack Obama, in a controversial school-time speech to most US children, advised them to be careful about what they put on Facebook and other social networks;"Whatever you do, it will be pulled up again later somewhere in your life," he warned.
First Solar of America signed a contract with the Chinese government to build the world's largest solar power plant in Inner Mongolia; assuming it is built, the Ordos City plant will push out 2,000 megawatts of electricity,around four times the size of the projects being built by the US Army in the Mojave Desert and by First Solar in California;the China project isn't near anything much; Ordos City is a coal-producing,eight-year-old, planned low-carbon development with about 1.5 million residents, roughly 800km west of Beijing.
Networking firm Huawei of China,which has suffered a scandal or two in its Thailand work, was stung to the quick by mean stories in the Australian media that it might be tied to the Chinese espionage services; Guo Fulin, managing director of Huawei in Australia, was hurt by the insensitive stories that his company was under investigation by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation; Huawei is a public-owned company, he said, and it is unthinkable that any government agency would be using Huawei to conduct spying.
The government of Cuba took a huge security gamble, and authorised post offices to provide Internet access to the public - just in case the Cuban government ever authorises the public to use the Internet at some point in the future; the only public access currently allowed is to an inside-Cuba intranet for email, provided by post offices at a cost of the equivalent of 55 baht an hour, in a country where the average wage is 680 baht a month.
Japan fired an unmanned cargo craft into orbit; the 16.5-tonne unmanned H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) is on a mission to re-supply the space station;it will stay up there to continue ferrying stuff to the US shuttle fleet next year.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown publicly apologised for the way that people treated World War Two code-breaker and extraordinary computer geek Alan Turing for being gay; Turing was prosecuted for homosexual conduct in 1952,and a mere two years later, he committed suicide;"I am pleased to have the chance how deeply sorry I and we all are," said Mr Brown.
Google , which plans to give away grazillions of books in order to get the (commercial) goods on its customers,offered to let all its opponents have a piece of the action;Amazon.com , which wants to sell grazillions of books to make tonnes of money directly, scoffed.Rupert Murdoch, the American media mogul, began collecting money at the tollgate to his news sites, in an interesting experiment to see if people will actually pay for news on the Net.
IBM, Microsoft, Oracle Corp and Google all responded to a plaintive "Help" from the Newspaper Association of America on how to get money from customers who don't want to pay for news; Randy Bennett, who is the senior president for vice in newspapers, said he's looking over 11 different proposals on how to squeeze money out of you;Google, to no one's surprise, offered to put all newspapers behind one vast,semi-expensive firewall, because that would be so convenient for everyone to just pay one company one time, and then Google would spread the money around; sure, that ought to work.
South African technology firm Unlimited IT dispatched Winston, a pigeon,from its office in Pietermaritzburg, with some data for its main hub in Durban strapped to the bird's leg; it took Winston one hour and eight minutes to fly the data card; meanwhile, Unlimited IT tried to send the same data via the speedchallenged Internet connections provided by leading Internet Telkom , and that download was four percent finished by the time Winston arrived; so it's not only countries that start with "T" that have Internet problems.
T-Mobile of Germany and Orange of France merged their yuppiephone operations in Britain, creating a new $13.5 billion company with 28.4 mobile phone customers; the Deutsche Telekom-France Telecom venture will be the biggest provider in the UK, with a 37 percent market share, larger than O2 of Telefonica.
The IT gap widens again
It is not so much that Thailand ranked 47th in the world in the most recent Global Information Technology report compiled by the World Economic Forum (WEF). And it is not just that the rankings put Thailand 19 places behind Malaysia and not that far ahead of Vietnam. The part that should hurt was the WEF commentary, straight from the shoulder,that Thailand continues to lose ground in IT competition with the rest of the world. And the analysis put the full blame on the government.
The Global Information Technology Report is a direct measure of each country's competitiveness. It is a "critical enabler of growth", in the words of Klaus Schwab, executive chairman of the WEF, and "is increasingly moving to the core of national competitiveness strategies around the world". But this is exactly the problem. Thai authorities have neither grasped nor encouraged IT development. And in the 21st century,through both perception and results, countries which fail to grasp the opportunity of information technology are letting their citizens down, if not directly dooming them to lack of development.
Last year, Thailand ranked 40th in the world in the global report."Pursuing its downward slide in the ranking, Thailand plunges a further seven positions,"the report's editors wrote."Behind this negative trend is the continuous worsening of the country's performance in all the government-related indicators." That leaves little wriggle room for a government that has had nothing to brag about in the IT field anyhow. And there is plenty of blame to go around. The last two Puea Thai and People's Power administrations lacked in IT motivation and leadership as well.
The current Democrat-led government, however,has proved the WEF's words to be true. When he was forming his coalition government early this year, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva made the ill-advised, ultimately harmful decision to turn the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology into one of the lowest political-payoff posts. The appointed minister, Ranongruk Suwunchwee, already had a double fault. She has no experience in the field of IT or in managing technology experts. Worse in some eyes, her husband Pairoj was banned from politics for five years in the Thai Rak Thai court decision, and she is widely seen as his surrogate and proxy.
Mrs Ranongruk has managed to survive seven months as minister without making a public decision on IT.Staff of the state-owned telecommunications agencies TOT and CAT Telecom have publicly demonstrated against her lack of action. All levels of the IT industry have lost faith in the ICT Ministry to push information technology for the public good, whether in the schools,the markets, in business or even in government.
Mrs Ranongruk has retreated behind her office door.Instead of pushing for IT development, she has enthusiastically taken on the role of official Thailand censor.She has banned more than 17,000 websites for real and imagined violations of her personal view of politics and national security. Recently, she has tried, often successfully, to block access to websites that are nothing but political argument, in gross violation of freedom of speech and the press.
The WEF has got it exactly right. The government,through numerous sins of commission and omission,has harmed the development of IT and thus the country.Thailand needs an ICT minister able to send the message that IT is necessary for healthy economic growth. If the government fails to get behind such a push, Thailand will continue to drop in the competitive rankings.
The Global Information Technology Report is a direct measure of each country's competitiveness. It is a "critical enabler of growth", in the words of Klaus Schwab, executive chairman of the WEF, and "is increasingly moving to the core of national competitiveness strategies around the world". But this is exactly the problem. Thai authorities have neither grasped nor encouraged IT development. And in the 21st century,through both perception and results, countries which fail to grasp the opportunity of information technology are letting their citizens down, if not directly dooming them to lack of development.
Last year, Thailand ranked 40th in the world in the global report."Pursuing its downward slide in the ranking, Thailand plunges a further seven positions,"the report's editors wrote."Behind this negative trend is the continuous worsening of the country's performance in all the government-related indicators." That leaves little wriggle room for a government that has had nothing to brag about in the IT field anyhow. And there is plenty of blame to go around. The last two Puea Thai and People's Power administrations lacked in IT motivation and leadership as well.
The current Democrat-led government, however,has proved the WEF's words to be true. When he was forming his coalition government early this year, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva made the ill-advised, ultimately harmful decision to turn the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology into one of the lowest political-payoff posts. The appointed minister, Ranongruk Suwunchwee, already had a double fault. She has no experience in the field of IT or in managing technology experts. Worse in some eyes, her husband Pairoj was banned from politics for five years in the Thai Rak Thai court decision, and she is widely seen as his surrogate and proxy.
Mrs Ranongruk has managed to survive seven months as minister without making a public decision on IT.Staff of the state-owned telecommunications agencies TOT and CAT Telecom have publicly demonstrated against her lack of action. All levels of the IT industry have lost faith in the ICT Ministry to push information technology for the public good, whether in the schools,the markets, in business or even in government.
Mrs Ranongruk has retreated behind her office door.Instead of pushing for IT development, she has enthusiastically taken on the role of official Thailand censor.She has banned more than 17,000 websites for real and imagined violations of her personal view of politics and national security. Recently, she has tried, often successfully, to block access to websites that are nothing but political argument, in gross violation of freedom of speech and the press.
The WEF has got it exactly right. The government,through numerous sins of commission and omission,has harmed the development of IT and thus the country.Thailand needs an ICT minister able to send the message that IT is necessary for healthy economic growth. If the government fails to get behind such a push, Thailand will continue to drop in the competitive rankings.
Intel urges PM to boost rural web
ICT is helping the Government in its economic stimulus package by encouraging smarter spending, paving the future for Thailand in a competitive global environment, said Navin Shenoy,Vice President, Sales and Marketing Group and general manager Asia Pacific region, Intel Corporation.
Navin shared his view during a visit from Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva,during which he praised the stimulus package as a bold and progressive initiative, especially as it has an IT-centric focus in the area of education. Spending on computer usage has been increased,so that there is now a ratio of 20 students per computer, up from the previous average of 40 to 1.
Navin said the Government should consider investing in a nationwide digital infrastructure."Broadband is a basic utility of the 21st century and the future of Thai society and the economy depends on this because 1 percent of broadband penetration drives 1 percent of the GDP," he said. IT creates smarter infrastructure
The executive who used to work as technical assistant to Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini, continued that IT can also help the government transform many business sectors.
For example, implementing a wireless network on the railways or modernising the energy distribution system would create a "smart grid" from where electricity waste could be monitored,encouraging consumers to be more efficient in their electric usage at home,bringing down energy consumption and easing the strain on the environment. This could also help modernise heath care services and public hospital facilities.
"I have seen the Chinese and US governments invest in an IT smart grid for health care and I sees opportunities here in Thailand as well," added Navin.Wi-Max crucial for rural development
The digital divide is another important aspect and further investment in IT can aid rural development, which is crucial for Thailand. Getting broadband into rural areas with Wi-Max (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) technology will help lower the cost of internet usage upcountry.
The National Telecommunication Commission of Thailand said it is important Thailand does not delay because Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines have already implemented Wi-Max, while Vietnam and Indonesia are working on it.
Several countries offer funding and tax incentive to accelerate use of IT in rural areas. For example, China offers tax rebates to farmers who buy computers, while India has set a target to bring Internet access to 6,000 villages within three years.
Navin continued:"Intel invests in forms of equity in service operators in many countries like Malaysia, Japan,Russia and USA. There are many issues to consider, including government commitment, return on investment and size of the market.
"At this stage, Thailand's first priority should be to make frequency available and then open it to auction, with a vision to have five million broadband users by the end of 2010."ICT rebound back on track
The Vice President also anticipates that a recovery in the global economy and a more stable political environment in Thailand will boost confidence and encourage IT spending.
Over the next 12 months, many businesses are expected to renew their existing computers to reduce their manageability costs and increase security.
Navin said:"We think that 4 or 5 years is the optimal cycle for PCs because maintenance costs in the fifth year and beyond can hit $1,000(34,000 baht), which is more than the cost of buying a new computer.
"The laptop market in Thailand has grown 25 percent this year, which shows the continuing demand for computers and ICT despite economic difficulties."
Navin shared his view during a visit from Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva,during which he praised the stimulus package as a bold and progressive initiative, especially as it has an IT-centric focus in the area of education. Spending on computer usage has been increased,so that there is now a ratio of 20 students per computer, up from the previous average of 40 to 1.
Navin said the Government should consider investing in a nationwide digital infrastructure."Broadband is a basic utility of the 21st century and the future of Thai society and the economy depends on this because 1 percent of broadband penetration drives 1 percent of the GDP," he said. IT creates smarter infrastructure
The executive who used to work as technical assistant to Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini, continued that IT can also help the government transform many business sectors.
For example, implementing a wireless network on the railways or modernising the energy distribution system would create a "smart grid" from where electricity waste could be monitored,encouraging consumers to be more efficient in their electric usage at home,bringing down energy consumption and easing the strain on the environment. This could also help modernise heath care services and public hospital facilities.
"I have seen the Chinese and US governments invest in an IT smart grid for health care and I sees opportunities here in Thailand as well," added Navin.Wi-Max crucial for rural development
The digital divide is another important aspect and further investment in IT can aid rural development, which is crucial for Thailand. Getting broadband into rural areas with Wi-Max (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) technology will help lower the cost of internet usage upcountry.
The National Telecommunication Commission of Thailand said it is important Thailand does not delay because Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines have already implemented Wi-Max, while Vietnam and Indonesia are working on it.
Several countries offer funding and tax incentive to accelerate use of IT in rural areas. For example, China offers tax rebates to farmers who buy computers, while India has set a target to bring Internet access to 6,000 villages within three years.
Navin continued:"Intel invests in forms of equity in service operators in many countries like Malaysia, Japan,Russia and USA. There are many issues to consider, including government commitment, return on investment and size of the market.
"At this stage, Thailand's first priority should be to make frequency available and then open it to auction, with a vision to have five million broadband users by the end of 2010."ICT rebound back on track
The Vice President also anticipates that a recovery in the global economy and a more stable political environment in Thailand will boost confidence and encourage IT spending.
Over the next 12 months, many businesses are expected to renew their existing computers to reduce their manageability costs and increase security.
Navin said:"We think that 4 or 5 years is the optimal cycle for PCs because maintenance costs in the fifth year and beyond can hit $1,000(34,000 baht), which is more than the cost of buying a new computer.
"The laptop market in Thailand has grown 25 percent this year, which shows the continuing demand for computers and ICT despite economic difficulties."
AIS consults watchdog on 3G bid uncertainty
Advanced Info Service has consulted the national telecom regulator |in a bid to clear up uncertainty over whether it will be eligible to bid for a 3G-2.1GHz licence if it provides the 3G service via another telecom operator's network on a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) basis.
AIS chief executive officer Wichian Mektrakarn yesterday said the National Telecommunications Commission had replied that its members would discuss the matter before replying. The watchdog might give an answer at the public hearing on the guidelines for the auction of 3G licences this coming Monday.
One condition in the auction guidelines states that those involved in 3G-2.1GHz cellular service development are not allowed to bid for 3G-2.1GHz licences from the NTC.
An MVNO is a firm without its own network that has bought |the airtime of a network operator in order to provide a cellular service.
A telecom industry source said TOT, which owns AIS's concession, had approached AIS to provide a 3G cellular service on the MVNO basis via TOT's upcoming 3G network in the greater Bangkok area. AIS has yet to make a decision on the matter.
Recently TOT said four companies were interested in providing 3G service via its upcoming 3G network on an MVNO basis, and that one of the four was a large listed firm. However, it declined to specify the name of the listed company.
TOT is upgrading the existing 1,900MHz network in greater Bangkok to 3G technology. The upgrade is expected to be finished in December.
Besides, it plans to spend more than Bt20 billion on the roll-out of the new 3G network nationwide, pending the Cabinet's approval of its investment plan.
In the last two weeks, the NTC's board decided that TOT would not be allowed to bid for the 3G-2.1GHz licences, given that it owns the 1,900 MHz band, which is part of the 2.1GHz spectrum.
But the NTC will first discuss whether CAT Telecom is eligible to bid for the licences. The Finance Ministry owns 100 per cent of both CAT and TOT.
Samart Corp is one company interested in becoming an MVNO of TOT's upcoming 3G service on the upgraded network. It is in talks with the state agency on a possible MVNO deal.
AIS chief executive officer Wichian Mektrakarn yesterday said the National Telecommunications Commission had replied that its members would discuss the matter before replying. The watchdog might give an answer at the public hearing on the guidelines for the auction of 3G licences this coming Monday.
One condition in the auction guidelines states that those involved in 3G-2.1GHz cellular service development are not allowed to bid for 3G-2.1GHz licences from the NTC.
An MVNO is a firm without its own network that has bought |the airtime of a network operator in order to provide a cellular service.
A telecom industry source said TOT, which owns AIS's concession, had approached AIS to provide a 3G cellular service on the MVNO basis via TOT's upcoming 3G network in the greater Bangkok area. AIS has yet to make a decision on the matter.
Recently TOT said four companies were interested in providing 3G service via its upcoming 3G network on an MVNO basis, and that one of the four was a large listed firm. However, it declined to specify the name of the listed company.
TOT is upgrading the existing 1,900MHz network in greater Bangkok to 3G technology. The upgrade is expected to be finished in December.
Besides, it plans to spend more than Bt20 billion on the roll-out of the new 3G network nationwide, pending the Cabinet's approval of its investment plan.
In the last two weeks, the NTC's board decided that TOT would not be allowed to bid for the 3G-2.1GHz licences, given that it owns the 1,900 MHz band, which is part of the 2.1GHz spectrum.
But the NTC will first discuss whether CAT Telecom is eligible to bid for the licences. The Finance Ministry owns 100 per cent of both CAT and TOT.
Samart Corp is one company interested in becoming an MVNO of TOT's upcoming 3G service on the upgraded network. It is in talks with the state agency on a possible MVNO deal.
FCC stirs old debate on "Internet neutrality"
The head of the US Federal Communications Commission proposed new rules on Monday that would require Internet providers, including wireless carriers, to treat all Web traffic equally.
There are few goals more essential in the communications landscape than preserving and maintaining an open and robust Internet, FCC chairman Julius Genachowski said in a speech at the Brookings Institution.
It is vital that the Internet continue to be an engine of innovation, economic growth, competition and democratic engagement, Genachowski told the Washington-based think tank.
He said the FCC needed to play a role in ensuring network neutrality the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) provide the same speed and level of service to all Web users, regardless of size.
The new rules would prevent ISPs,for example, from blocking or slowing bandwidth-hogging Web traffic such as streaming video or other applications that put a strain on their networks or from charging different rates to users.
I believe the FCC must be a smart cop on the beat preserving a free and open Internet, Genachowski said.
Anticipating the objections of some ISPs to the move, he said:This is not about government regulation of the Internet. Its about fair rules of the road for companies that control access to the Internet.
The FCC chairman proposed adding two new principles to those currently guiding the regulatory bodys approach to maintaining an open Internet and extending them to wireless carriers.
Genachowski said the first would prevent broadband providers from discriminating against particular Web content or applications while allowing for reasonable network management.
This means they cannot block or degrade lawful traffic over their networks,or pick winners by favouring some content or applications over others, he said.
Nor can they disfavour an Internet service just because it competes with a similar service offered by that broadband provider, Genachowski added.
This principle will not prevent broadband providers from reasonably managing their networks, he said.During periods of network congestion, for example, it may be appropriate for providers to ensure that very heavy users do not crowd out everyone else.
Genachowski also stressed that the open Internet principles apply only to lawful content, services and applications not to activities like unlawful distribution of copyrighted works.
The second principle would ensure that ISPs be transparent about their network management practices, the FCC chief said.
Genachowskis remarks are his first major pronouncement on the hotly contested issue since taking office and are likely to draw fire from ISPs, which have generally resisted interference in management of their networks.
During his White House campaign,President Barack Obama came out strongly in favour of net neutrality, which is backed by companies such as Google,Amazon, Yahoo!, eBay and consumer advocacy groups, but opposed by telecommunications, wireless and cable companies such as AT&T, Verizon and Comcast.
Genachowski said he would like to see the five-member FCC consider the new rules in October and announced that the FCC had launched a website,openinternet.gov, to encourage public participation in the process.
There are few goals more essential in the communications landscape than preserving and maintaining an open and robust Internet, FCC chairman Julius Genachowski said in a speech at the Brookings Institution.
It is vital that the Internet continue to be an engine of innovation, economic growth, competition and democratic engagement, Genachowski told the Washington-based think tank.
He said the FCC needed to play a role in ensuring network neutrality the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) provide the same speed and level of service to all Web users, regardless of size.
The new rules would prevent ISPs,for example, from blocking or slowing bandwidth-hogging Web traffic such as streaming video or other applications that put a strain on their networks or from charging different rates to users.
I believe the FCC must be a smart cop on the beat preserving a free and open Internet, Genachowski said.
Anticipating the objections of some ISPs to the move, he said:This is not about government regulation of the Internet. Its about fair rules of the road for companies that control access to the Internet.
The FCC chairman proposed adding two new principles to those currently guiding the regulatory bodys approach to maintaining an open Internet and extending them to wireless carriers.
Genachowski said the first would prevent broadband providers from discriminating against particular Web content or applications while allowing for reasonable network management.
This means they cannot block or degrade lawful traffic over their networks,or pick winners by favouring some content or applications over others, he said.
Nor can they disfavour an Internet service just because it competes with a similar service offered by that broadband provider, Genachowski added.
This principle will not prevent broadband providers from reasonably managing their networks, he said.During periods of network congestion, for example, it may be appropriate for providers to ensure that very heavy users do not crowd out everyone else.
Genachowski also stressed that the open Internet principles apply only to lawful content, services and applications not to activities like unlawful distribution of copyrighted works.
The second principle would ensure that ISPs be transparent about their network management practices, the FCC chief said.
Genachowskis remarks are his first major pronouncement on the hotly contested issue since taking office and are likely to draw fire from ISPs, which have generally resisted interference in management of their networks.
During his White House campaign,President Barack Obama came out strongly in favour of net neutrality, which is backed by companies such as Google,Amazon, Yahoo!, eBay and consumer advocacy groups, but opposed by telecommunications, wireless and cable companies such as AT&T, Verizon and Comcast.
Genachowski said he would like to see the five-member FCC consider the new rules in October and announced that the FCC had launched a website,openinternet.gov, to encourage public participation in the process.
Broadband use low as access limited
Inconvenient access to core fixed and mobile networks and high service fees are the reasons for the low penetration rate of broadband internet usage, says Pitjapol Jantanasaro, the vice-secretary of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).
He said if current broadband service fees starting at 590 baht per month could be lowered to 300-400 baht, it would stimulate more internet use, similar to the mobile phone market's experience.
Average mobile phone usage fees have dropped to about 200 baht per month,leading to widespread use in almost 100%of the country. Broadband internet usage remains low at 1.6% even though one million households have internet access.
Anuparb Thilalarp, a telecom expert,said internet access was still monopolised by Type 3 operators, or operators that have their own networks, while Type 1 and Type 2(those that do not own a network) could not reach end users because they were blocked or deterred by the competing Type 3 operators.
He said Type 3 operators use their networks to serve their customers rather than leasing them to other ISPs to provide service that competes with them.
"It is not unusual that we have more than 100 ISPs that service corporate customers but not the general public because they have no LAN lines or mobile networks," Mr Anuparb said. He added that broadband service was not competitive yet and prices have not dipped much.
He also blamed poor enforcement of the interconnection charge system for operators as another reason for low broadband use, although the charge became effective three years ago.
Mr Anuparb said recent research showed the operating cost for 1MB of broadband was just 150 baht per month,440 baht less than operators charge on average now.
He then called on the government to help ease the cost of building internet access networks so that ISPs could provide broadband at a minimum of 300 baht per month. The fee was compared to monthly usage of mobile phones, to which everyone now has access.
He said if current broadband service fees starting at 590 baht per month could be lowered to 300-400 baht, it would stimulate more internet use, similar to the mobile phone market's experience.
Average mobile phone usage fees have dropped to about 200 baht per month,leading to widespread use in almost 100%of the country. Broadband internet usage remains low at 1.6% even though one million households have internet access.
Anuparb Thilalarp, a telecom expert,said internet access was still monopolised by Type 3 operators, or operators that have their own networks, while Type 1 and Type 2(those that do not own a network) could not reach end users because they were blocked or deterred by the competing Type 3 operators.
He said Type 3 operators use their networks to serve their customers rather than leasing them to other ISPs to provide service that competes with them.
"It is not unusual that we have more than 100 ISPs that service corporate customers but not the general public because they have no LAN lines or mobile networks," Mr Anuparb said. He added that broadband service was not competitive yet and prices have not dipped much.
He also blamed poor enforcement of the interconnection charge system for operators as another reason for low broadband use, although the charge became effective three years ago.
Mr Anuparb said recent research showed the operating cost for 1MB of broadband was just 150 baht per month,440 baht less than operators charge on average now.
He then called on the government to help ease the cost of building internet access networks so that ISPs could provide broadband at a minimum of 300 baht per month. The fee was compared to monthly usage of mobile phones, to which everyone now has access.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
INTEL'S ADVICE FOR FOSTERING GROWTH IN FIELD OF ICT
Giant US-based chipmaker Intel sent a senior executive to meet Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva last week, to urge the Thai government to pay more attention to the improvement of information-and communications-technology education, digital-infrastructure investment and spending on WiMax to bridge the country's digital divide.
Navin Shenoy, general manger for the Asia-Pacific, proposed the expenditure be sourced from the Thai Khemkhaeng project.
He said the government should invest "smartly" in education to allow children throughout the country to have equal access to ICT, to enhance their learning experience.
An improvement in the national digital infrastructure would help to bridge the digital divide by giving people living in rural areas an equal chance to access knowledge.
Shenoy said WiMax, short for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, was a technology suitable for current investment that would help Thailand to move forward quickly.
He said the government's new infrastructure investment should include investment in ICT infrastructure at the same time.
Thailand could also benefit from lower WiMax-investment costs because many countries in the region have been investing in the technology, including the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia. This will bring the cost of WiMax infrastructure and equiopment down dramatically, he said.
"Rural broadband is a fundamental need for the country's improvement as a whole, and WiMax can play a key role in bringing broadband to the rural areas of Thailand with effective investment," Shenoy said.
However, to make rural broadband a reality, the government first had to make the WiMax spectrum available, with a clear directive. Then, private organisations could build business plans.
"WiMax could be a key factor to drive an increase in Thailand's broadband penetration rate. Every 1 per cent of broadbank penetration equals one per cent of gross-domestic-product growth. Broadband will deliver the utilities [services] that everyone deserves," Shenoy said, adding that the country's economy will be larger if a WiMax infrastructure is laid down throughout rural areas.
"There is an opportunity gap upcountry, and you can see it in the fact the most PC growth is upcountry," he said.
Shenoy suggested that the Thai government could play an important role in making a rural broadband network available in the not-too-distant future by introducing policies, tax incentives and government purchases.
"The availability of broadband infrastructure both in the cities and rural areas would improve Thailand's eduction by giving students equal access to ICT, would improve the country's competitiveness and bridge the digital divide."
To get things moving, Intel has launched a mission it calls "5 by 10", aimed at pushing Thailand to achieve 5 million broadband ports by the end of next year. That goal is consistent with the government's goal to increase the PC penetration rate for students from 40:1 to 20:1 in the next three years.
Shenoy said Intel would support the government's investments with its knowledge, experience and technology transfer. It is not yet committed to any financial investments.
To date, Intel Capital has invested in WiMax in four Asia-Pacitic countries: Taiwan, Japan, Australia and Malaysia. Its investment totals US$ 20 million to $50 million (Bt676 million to Bt1.69 billion).
Navin Shenoy, general manger for the Asia-Pacific, proposed the expenditure be sourced from the Thai Khemkhaeng project.
He said the government should invest "smartly" in education to allow children throughout the country to have equal access to ICT, to enhance their learning experience.
An improvement in the national digital infrastructure would help to bridge the digital divide by giving people living in rural areas an equal chance to access knowledge.
Shenoy said WiMax, short for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, was a technology suitable for current investment that would help Thailand to move forward quickly.
He said the government's new infrastructure investment should include investment in ICT infrastructure at the same time.
Thailand could also benefit from lower WiMax-investment costs because many countries in the region have been investing in the technology, including the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia. This will bring the cost of WiMax infrastructure and equiopment down dramatically, he said.
"Rural broadband is a fundamental need for the country's improvement as a whole, and WiMax can play a key role in bringing broadband to the rural areas of Thailand with effective investment," Shenoy said.
However, to make rural broadband a reality, the government first had to make the WiMax spectrum available, with a clear directive. Then, private organisations could build business plans.
"WiMax could be a key factor to drive an increase in Thailand's broadband penetration rate. Every 1 per cent of broadbank penetration equals one per cent of gross-domestic-product growth. Broadband will deliver the utilities [services] that everyone deserves," Shenoy said, adding that the country's economy will be larger if a WiMax infrastructure is laid down throughout rural areas.
"There is an opportunity gap upcountry, and you can see it in the fact the most PC growth is upcountry," he said.
Shenoy suggested that the Thai government could play an important role in making a rural broadband network available in the not-too-distant future by introducing policies, tax incentives and government purchases.
"The availability of broadband infrastructure both in the cities and rural areas would improve Thailand's eduction by giving students equal access to ICT, would improve the country's competitiveness and bridge the digital divide."
To get things moving, Intel has launched a mission it calls "5 by 10", aimed at pushing Thailand to achieve 5 million broadband ports by the end of next year. That goal is consistent with the government's goal to increase the PC penetration rate for students from 40:1 to 20:1 in the next three years.
Shenoy said Intel would support the government's investments with its knowledge, experience and technology transfer. It is not yet committed to any financial investments.
To date, Intel Capital has invested in WiMax in four Asia-Pacitic countries: Taiwan, Japan, Australia and Malaysia. Its investment totals US$ 20 million to $50 million (Bt676 million to Bt1.69 billion).
WATCHDOG SET TO REFOCUS ON RULES ENFORCEMENT
The telecom watchdog will step up its enforcement of regulations to ensure fair competition in the Internet access market.
Sethaporn Cusripituck, a member of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), admitted that the regulator, which was set up almost five years ago, has focused too much on developing regulations in the past years. But from now on, it would turn more to the enforcement side.
He made the remark yesterday at the NTC's meeting with Internet service provider licensees to learn if they had any problems after one small ISP complained in the meeting about major network owners.
The ISP said that sometimes the telecoms declined to allow it to lease their networks to provide Internet service in some locations, citing insufficient network capacity.
Article 25 of the Telecom Business Act of 2001 requires licensees with telecom networks to allow other licensees to interconnect with their networks.
They can refuse in some cases such as when their network has insufficient bandwideth or when access by an outside party might cause a technical problem.
The NTC has 107 ISP licensees, of which 84 hold a Type 1 licence, 14 a Type 2 licence and nine a Type 3 licence.
The NTC has extednded the term of the ISP licence to five years from the original one year.
Type 1 is for those without their own dedicated network. while Type 2 is for those either with or without their own network but their competition does not have a significant impact on the public.
Type 3 is for those with large networks, such as cellular operators, whose competition can have a significant wide-scale impact on the public.
According to the NTC, True Corp commanded 38.43 per cent of the broadband Internet service market last year, followed by TT&T with 27.92 per cent, TOT with 27.39 per cent, and the others with a combined 6.26 per cent.
Last year there were 13.4 million dial-up and broadband Internet users in Thailand.
In the first quarter of this year, there were 1.7 million broadband and 7.2 million telephone subscribers.
The broadband Internet market is projected to increase to bt10.5 billion next year from Bt8.5 billion expected this year and Bt6.63 billion recorded last year.
Sethaporn Cusripituck, a member of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), admitted that the regulator, which was set up almost five years ago, has focused too much on developing regulations in the past years. But from now on, it would turn more to the enforcement side.
He made the remark yesterday at the NTC's meeting with Internet service provider licensees to learn if they had any problems after one small ISP complained in the meeting about major network owners.
The ISP said that sometimes the telecoms declined to allow it to lease their networks to provide Internet service in some locations, citing insufficient network capacity.
Article 25 of the Telecom Business Act of 2001 requires licensees with telecom networks to allow other licensees to interconnect with their networks.
They can refuse in some cases such as when their network has insufficient bandwideth or when access by an outside party might cause a technical problem.
The NTC has 107 ISP licensees, of which 84 hold a Type 1 licence, 14 a Type 2 licence and nine a Type 3 licence.
The NTC has extednded the term of the ISP licence to five years from the original one year.
Type 1 is for those without their own dedicated network. while Type 2 is for those either with or without their own network but their competition does not have a significant impact on the public.
Type 3 is for those with large networks, such as cellular operators, whose competition can have a significant wide-scale impact on the public.
According to the NTC, True Corp commanded 38.43 per cent of the broadband Internet service market last year, followed by TT&T with 27.92 per cent, TOT with 27.39 per cent, and the others with a combined 6.26 per cent.
Last year there were 13.4 million dial-up and broadband Internet users in Thailand.
In the first quarter of this year, there were 1.7 million broadband and 7.2 million telephone subscribers.
The broadband Internet market is projected to increase to bt10.5 billion next year from Bt8.5 billion expected this year and Bt6.63 billion recorded last year.
CAT told to avoid 11-digit numbers
The telecom regulator recently warned CAT Telecom to stop the alleged use of 11-digit mobile phone numbers to contact other cellular networks, since no such numbers have yet to be assigned to any network.
Praset Apipunya, deputy secretary-general of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), said the use of 11-digit numbers contravenes the NTC's numbering regulations.
A CAT source said the warning was aimed at Hutchison-CAT Wireless Multimedia but was sent to CAT because CAT, as the licensee of the NTC, was allocated 10-digit mobile phone numbers, which CAT in turn assigned to Hutch to use in marketing its cellular service.
Hutch is a joint venture of CAT and Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecom.
The source said CAT has already asked Hutch if it was providing the service with 11-digit phone numbers but Hutch rejected the claim. CAT will inform the NTC about Hutch's denial.
The NTC's warning states that CAT would face a fine of Bt20,000 per day, if it does not stop the alleged use of 11-digit phone numbers.
All telecom operators get their phone numbers from the NTC. Local mobile phone numbers usually have 10 digits.
The NTC started an investigation in April when it found that 11-digit numbers had been used to call customers of True Move, Advanced Info Service (AIS) and Total Access Communication (DTAC).
In May the NTC ordered CAT to ask Hutch about the case. CAT then informally asked Hutch about the case and Hutch denied it.
In June True Move sought police help to find out what 11-digit mobile phone service was sending calls to its customers. True Move said it wants to protect its network from being contacted by what it calls illegal numbers and that it is also losing interconnection fee income because it does not know which network to charge.
Praset Apipunya, deputy secretary-general of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), said the use of 11-digit numbers contravenes the NTC's numbering regulations.
A CAT source said the warning was aimed at Hutchison-CAT Wireless Multimedia but was sent to CAT because CAT, as the licensee of the NTC, was allocated 10-digit mobile phone numbers, which CAT in turn assigned to Hutch to use in marketing its cellular service.
Hutch is a joint venture of CAT and Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecom.
The source said CAT has already asked Hutch if it was providing the service with 11-digit phone numbers but Hutch rejected the claim. CAT will inform the NTC about Hutch's denial.
The NTC's warning states that CAT would face a fine of Bt20,000 per day, if it does not stop the alleged use of 11-digit phone numbers.
All telecom operators get their phone numbers from the NTC. Local mobile phone numbers usually have 10 digits.
The NTC started an investigation in April when it found that 11-digit numbers had been used to call customers of True Move, Advanced Info Service (AIS) and Total Access Communication (DTAC).
In May the NTC ordered CAT to ask Hutch about the case. CAT then informally asked Hutch about the case and Hutch denied it.
In June True Move sought police help to find out what 11-digit mobile phone service was sending calls to its customers. True Move said it wants to protect its network from being contacted by what it calls illegal numbers and that it is also losing interconnection fee income because it does not know which network to charge.
NTC seeks feedback on 3G
The National Telecommunications Commission will listen to all reasonable proposals to make sure third-generation or 3G mobile broadband licence rules benefit the people and country, says Gen Choochart Promprasit, the NTC chairman.
The regulator would welcome all proposals at its scheduled public hearing on the licence auction on Sept 28.
He said reasonable proposals would be adapted to the draft auction regulations and would be published in the Royal Gazette by the end of October.He predicted that the auction process could then start by the end of the year.
Some analysts have questioned whether the NTC has the power to regulate content because 3G technology involved convergence between telecoms and broadcasting. Gen Choochart said this concern was resolved because the NTC has a radio and television broadcasting sub-committee to look after content under a provision of the Radio and Television Broadcasting Law 2008.
The NTC was still considering whether to announce publicly the median price for 3G bids. Analysts have said the figure could be around 10 billion baht per licence. It has been reported that bidders would need to post bank guarantees equal to the median price but he said this was not yet an official condition.
The regulator would welcome all proposals at its scheduled public hearing on the licence auction on Sept 28.
He said reasonable proposals would be adapted to the draft auction regulations and would be published in the Royal Gazette by the end of October.He predicted that the auction process could then start by the end of the year.
Some analysts have questioned whether the NTC has the power to regulate content because 3G technology involved convergence between telecoms and broadcasting. Gen Choochart said this concern was resolved because the NTC has a radio and television broadcasting sub-committee to look after content under a provision of the Radio and Television Broadcasting Law 2008.
The NTC was still considering whether to announce publicly the median price for 3G bids. Analysts have said the figure could be around 10 billion baht per licence. It has been reported that bidders would need to post bank guarantees equal to the median price but he said this was not yet an official condition.
Jasmine orders TT&T to cede control of Maxnet after ruling
Jasmine International Plc has given TT&T Plc an ultimatum to stop operating a broadband internet service through an affiliate, claiming the business unit is majority owned by Jasmine.
The parent of the provincial fixedline telephone and internet provider said it was asserting its right to take over Triple T Broadband, based on the fact that it owns a 91% stake in the internet provider.
The assertion came in a letter to TT&T after the Central Bankruptcy Court approved the appointment of P Planner to prepare the debt rehabilitation plan for TT&T, according to a TT&T shareholder.
The executive said TT&T had threatened to cancel broadband bill payment services at its nationwide customer service centres for Triple T if Jasmine takes over the business. In addition, TT&T threatened to sue Jasmine if the latter cuts off its copper cable or optical-fibre network without permission.
In the letter, Jasmine ordered TT&T Subscriber Service, another subsidiary of TT&T, to stop managing the MaxNet broadband service as it is causing confusion among customers. Jasmine said it neither hired nor requested TT&T Subscriber to run the business.
Triple T Broadband has not run the business in compliance with Jasmine's policies and disagreed with its manage-ment plan, which is causing severe damage to the broadband unit, Jasmine said.
Also, as TT&T is entering into rehabilitation, it urgently needs to put most of its efforts into restructuring debt, creating a new business plan and restructuring the organisation, Jasmine said."We want TT&T to stop running the broadband management and revenue collection,and transfer customers from its network."
TT&T is planning to restructure 21 billion baht in debt. Of all, 18 billion baht consists of long-term obligations of five to 10 years, and the remaining 3 billion represent supplier credits. Of that amount,45% of the debts are owed to a dozen local financial institutions, with the rest to foreign creditors.
Jasmine also said that TT&T could not ban customers from paying bills at its facilities because the company had informed the Revenue Department that Triple T was allowed to legally use the centres for bill services.
"We have the right to fully control the broadband unit and TT&T has no right to intervene," the letter said, adding that TT&T held only a 9% stake in Triple T Broadband.
Triple T, with 10 million baht in registered capital, previously was wholly owned by TT&T. But TT&T failed to inject money into the company when it needed to raise its capital to 110 million baht, resulting in Jasmine becoming the major shareholder.
The parent of the provincial fixedline telephone and internet provider said it was asserting its right to take over Triple T Broadband, based on the fact that it owns a 91% stake in the internet provider.
The assertion came in a letter to TT&T after the Central Bankruptcy Court approved the appointment of P Planner to prepare the debt rehabilitation plan for TT&T, according to a TT&T shareholder.
The executive said TT&T had threatened to cancel broadband bill payment services at its nationwide customer service centres for Triple T if Jasmine takes over the business. In addition, TT&T threatened to sue Jasmine if the latter cuts off its copper cable or optical-fibre network without permission.
In the letter, Jasmine ordered TT&T Subscriber Service, another subsidiary of TT&T, to stop managing the MaxNet broadband service as it is causing confusion among customers. Jasmine said it neither hired nor requested TT&T Subscriber to run the business.
Triple T Broadband has not run the business in compliance with Jasmine's policies and disagreed with its manage-ment plan, which is causing severe damage to the broadband unit, Jasmine said.
Also, as TT&T is entering into rehabilitation, it urgently needs to put most of its efforts into restructuring debt, creating a new business plan and restructuring the organisation, Jasmine said."We want TT&T to stop running the broadband management and revenue collection,and transfer customers from its network."
TT&T is planning to restructure 21 billion baht in debt. Of all, 18 billion baht consists of long-term obligations of five to 10 years, and the remaining 3 billion represent supplier credits. Of that amount,45% of the debts are owed to a dozen local financial institutions, with the rest to foreign creditors.
Jasmine also said that TT&T could not ban customers from paying bills at its facilities because the company had informed the Revenue Department that Triple T was allowed to legally use the centres for bill services.
"We have the right to fully control the broadband unit and TT&T has no right to intervene," the letter said, adding that TT&T held only a 9% stake in Triple T Broadband.
Triple T, with 10 million baht in registered capital, previously was wholly owned by TT&T. But TT&T failed to inject money into the company when it needed to raise its capital to 110 million baht, resulting in Jasmine becoming the major shareholder.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
CAT Telecom eyes WiMax deal with MCOT
CAT Telecom is keen on using MCOT's 2.6GHz spectrum to offer WiMax broadband cellular services as part of its plan to develop new wireless businesses.
CAT's new CEO, Jirayuth Rungsrithong, said yesterday that CAT would talk seriously with the broadcaster's management on a possible tie-up to develop WiMax on the 2.6GHz spectrum.
CAT has already floated the idea to MCOT, he said.
However, the National Telecommunications Commission has earmarked only the 2.3GHz spectrum for WiMax, since other potential alternatives, such as the 2.5GHz spectrum, are now being used for broadcasting.
CAT's board on Wednesday appointed Jirayuth to a four-year term and will evaluate his performance every six months.
Jirayuth said that besides seeking new business, his other top priority is to finish merging CAT's CDMA 2000 1-x cellular network with Hutchison-CAT Wireless Multimedia's network by December.
Hutchison-CAT is a joint venture of CAT and Hong Kong telecom operator Hutchison Telecom.
CAT operates its own CDMA network in 51 provinces, while Hutchison-CAT markets the CDMA service under a contract with CAT on a separate CDMA network in 25 provinces.
Hutchison-CAT leases the CDMA network from BFKT, which is wholly owned by Hutchison Telecom.
Their combined network will strengthen the state enterprise's CDMA service offering and marketing.
Hutchison Telecom has already informed CAT of its intention to sell the BFKT network to CAT.
CAT's CDMA service, which has 350,000 subscribers, generated revenue of Bt618 million in the first eight months of this year, while Hutchison-CAT, which has 1.1 million subscribers, contributed about Bt400 million to CAT in the same period.
CAT's CDMA network in 51 provinces features the 3G wireless broadband technology, Jirayuth said.
CAT plans to upgrade the BFKT network to the technology after the merger, as it wants to evolve the merged network to 4G technology in a few years.
CAT targets total revenue of Bt52 billion this year after posting revenue of Bt31.9 billion in the first eight months, of which Bt12 billion was from its own operation and Bt19 billion from its concession holders.
CAT's new CEO, Jirayuth Rungsrithong, said yesterday that CAT would talk seriously with the broadcaster's management on a possible tie-up to develop WiMax on the 2.6GHz spectrum.
CAT has already floated the idea to MCOT, he said.
However, the National Telecommunications Commission has earmarked only the 2.3GHz spectrum for WiMax, since other potential alternatives, such as the 2.5GHz spectrum, are now being used for broadcasting.
CAT's board on Wednesday appointed Jirayuth to a four-year term and will evaluate his performance every six months.
Jirayuth said that besides seeking new business, his other top priority is to finish merging CAT's CDMA 2000 1-x cellular network with Hutchison-CAT Wireless Multimedia's network by December.
Hutchison-CAT is a joint venture of CAT and Hong Kong telecom operator Hutchison Telecom.
CAT operates its own CDMA network in 51 provinces, while Hutchison-CAT markets the CDMA service under a contract with CAT on a separate CDMA network in 25 provinces.
Hutchison-CAT leases the CDMA network from BFKT, which is wholly owned by Hutchison Telecom.
Their combined network will strengthen the state enterprise's CDMA service offering and marketing.
Hutchison Telecom has already informed CAT of its intention to sell the BFKT network to CAT.
CAT's CDMA service, which has 350,000 subscribers, generated revenue of Bt618 million in the first eight months of this year, while Hutchison-CAT, which has 1.1 million subscribers, contributed about Bt400 million to CAT in the same period.
CAT's CDMA network in 51 provinces features the 3G wireless broadband technology, Jirayuth said.
CAT plans to upgrade the BFKT network to the technology after the merger, as it wants to evolve the merged network to 4G technology in a few years.
CAT targets total revenue of Bt52 billion this year after posting revenue of Bt31.9 billion in the first eight months, of which Bt12 billion was from its own operation and Bt19 billion from its concession holders.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Tycoon drops PCCW appeal
Tycoon Richard Li has dropped his final appeal of a court decision that blocked him from buying out PCCW, the city's leading telecommunications company, bringing an end to the controversial privatisation saga.
Pacific Century Regional Developments Limited, Li's Singapore-listed company, said in a document filed to the Singapore Stock Exchange late Tuesday that it has decided to drop its challenge to the earlier ruling in Hong Kong's highest court after "careful deliberation."
Li's latest move marks the end of an epic privatisation deal that involved a high-profile intervention by the local securities watchdog.
Li, the son of one of Asia's richest men, billionaire businessman Li Kashing, attempted to take Hong Kongbased PCCW private for about $2 billion earlier this year via PCRD and his other company Starvest.
But Li and his allies were forced to bow out of the controversial deal after a court sided with the Securities and Futures Commission, which claimed the shareholder vote approving the buyout offer appeared to have been rigged.
Li sought to appeal the ruling, but his request was denied last month by the Court of Appeal.
PCRD had previously said it planned to make one last appeal against the court decision. However, it said in Tuesday's statement that it was in shareholders'best interests to draw a line under the matter.
Pacific Century Regional Developments Limited, Li's Singapore-listed company, said in a document filed to the Singapore Stock Exchange late Tuesday that it has decided to drop its challenge to the earlier ruling in Hong Kong's highest court after "careful deliberation."
Li's latest move marks the end of an epic privatisation deal that involved a high-profile intervention by the local securities watchdog.
Li, the son of one of Asia's richest men, billionaire businessman Li Kashing, attempted to take Hong Kongbased PCCW private for about $2 billion earlier this year via PCRD and his other company Starvest.
But Li and his allies were forced to bow out of the controversial deal after a court sided with the Securities and Futures Commission, which claimed the shareholder vote approving the buyout offer appeared to have been rigged.
Li sought to appeal the ruling, but his request was denied last month by the Court of Appeal.
PCRD had previously said it planned to make one last appeal against the court decision. However, it said in Tuesday's statement that it was in shareholders'best interests to draw a line under the matter.
When "Thai time" gets in the way of progress
Should we call for a rethink in 3G after all and wait to get things done right, according to the rules? The regulator, the National Telecommunications Commission, is treading forward on shakey legal ground and in doing so,might be tailoring the 3G licenses more towards keeping lawsuits at bay rather than working in the best interests of the kingdom.
The problem stems from Section 305, paragraph 1, and Section 47, paragraph 2 of the 2007 constitution and no, returning to the 1997 constitution would not help, as history has already proven the 1997 framework unable to get 3G rolling after 10 years of squabbling.
Section 47(2) calls for an independent regulatory body, the new National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), to have the duty to distribute frequencies as per paragraph 2, or for the best public interest. However,305(1)says that 47(2) shall not come into effect until the body is set up, which must be done within 180 days of the constitution coming into force.
That 180-day limit should have given us an NBTC by February 2008. It was there as an attempt to solve a deadlock in the 1997 constitution that saw 10 years pass without a National Broadcasting Commission set up. Thais are not known for their punctuality, be it for meetings or for obeying time limits set in the constitution.
305(1) says that there shall be no 47(2) until the NBTC is up and running. To most people, common sense would suggest this means that there is to be no frequency allocation until we have selected an NBTC.
So where does that leave the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), one half of the two independent regulators set up under the 1997 constitution - the other half being the never established National Broadcasting Commission (NBC)? Why is it now pushing so hard for 3G licenses to be issued?
One of my sources, a former TOT executive who asked not to be named, said that this was the very question that the NTC has been working on for the past two years since the constitution was passed.They asked the Council of State (the government's legal advisers) for clarification and the answer that finally came down after years of debate finally paved the way to this renewed move to 2.1 GHz 3G licensing.
The answer was that the NTC could give out 2.1 GHz 3G licenses as it was not considered allocation of frequency in a way that needed consultation with the broadcasting regulator.
The NBTC is to be a merger of the NTC (telecommunications) and NBC (broadcasting) into the same body. While some, myself included, have said that dividing the NBTC into its proposed telecommunications arm and broadcasting arm is not a good idea and that it should be divided into an infrastructure layer and a content later, it is no doubt better than having two equal but separate organisations that must agree on frequency allocation. Its role is to write up a frequency map and issue licenses to operators, be it broadcasting (TV, radio) or cellular telephone operators.
The reasoning that the NTC can go ahead with 2.1 GHz 3G licensing was that the NTC still has jurisdiction over licensing anything that is purely telecommunications and will never be broadcasting.Since the International Telecommunications Union has decided 2.1 to be a purely telecommunications band, then by all means go ahead. However, for 2.3/2.5 GHz WiMAX, the frequency is also used by TV operators, thus a decision on WiMAX will have to wait for the NBTC to decide if those frequencies are to be used for WiMAX or for beaming television pictures in Thailand.
This argument sounds reasonable enough, but it is understood that not all the NTC commissioners are comfortable with this interpretation. After all,305(1) said that the NBTC had to be up and running within 180 days, so it could also be interpreted that the NTC only had jurisdiction for the 180 days after the new constitution took effect (it is now over two years). Also, it only protects any agreements made before the constitution took effect, not ones made afterwards. Any license issued by the NTC under these circumstances could be on shakey ground indeed.
If the licenses are subject to legal interpretation,the only way forward for the NTC is to ensure that all the bidders leave the table happy so nobody will lodge a challenge in the courts, but that runs against the idea of having a regulator in the first place. The regulator is supposed to be keeping the operators on their toes to ensure that the consumer gets a good deal. If the roles are reversed and it is the operators holding a legal knife against the regulator,what happens is collusion and when that happens,the consumer inevitably loses out. The NBTC would not be hampered and thus could be much stronger in its dealings with the operators.
We are talking 15-year concessions here and an entire generation might have to live with any bad decision that comes from what unfolds in upcoming months. Perhaps the roll-out requirements to rural areas is not as fast as the NTC would have liked, or perhaps the cost of the licenses are lower than what would be optimal.
Waiting for the NBTC would be very bad in terms of further lost opportunity and business productivity due to continued lack of telecommunications infrastructure. Pressing ahead might not work anyway as any loser of the auction might launch a legal challenge and land things in limbo while the courts work their way through the arguments. The Council of State, despite its fancy name, is essentially the government lawyer, not the courts.
The 2007 constitution came into force on August 24,2007 and successive governments have had the chance to set up the NBTC. If only Surayud, Samak,Somchai and even Abhisit had done their job properly, things would be so much clearer now.
On a side note, further light was shed on the 850 3G situation in that meeting. Given a choice, none of the operators would choose to use 850 for 3G under the current contract for two reasons. Firstly,the 30 percent revenue cut that has to go to the CAT Telecom as concession holder.2.1 GHz was always viewed as a way out of the revenue-share model. Secondly, with the concession ending in 2018, that leaves only nine years before any new 3G equipment has to be handed back to CAT, and nine years does not make for any economic model for a 3G roll-out, let alone one where a third of revenue has to sliced off. However, my source told me that from a regulatory standpoint, the 850 squabble was an purely an internal CAT matter.They could move DTac around and give a new license to TrueMove as from the government's point of view, it is CAT's frequency and CAT can do with it as it wishes.
The problem stems from Section 305, paragraph 1, and Section 47, paragraph 2 of the 2007 constitution and no, returning to the 1997 constitution would not help, as history has already proven the 1997 framework unable to get 3G rolling after 10 years of squabbling.
Section 47(2) calls for an independent regulatory body, the new National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), to have the duty to distribute frequencies as per paragraph 2, or for the best public interest. However,305(1)says that 47(2) shall not come into effect until the body is set up, which must be done within 180 days of the constitution coming into force.
That 180-day limit should have given us an NBTC by February 2008. It was there as an attempt to solve a deadlock in the 1997 constitution that saw 10 years pass without a National Broadcasting Commission set up. Thais are not known for their punctuality, be it for meetings or for obeying time limits set in the constitution.
305(1) says that there shall be no 47(2) until the NBTC is up and running. To most people, common sense would suggest this means that there is to be no frequency allocation until we have selected an NBTC.
So where does that leave the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), one half of the two independent regulators set up under the 1997 constitution - the other half being the never established National Broadcasting Commission (NBC)? Why is it now pushing so hard for 3G licenses to be issued?
One of my sources, a former TOT executive who asked not to be named, said that this was the very question that the NTC has been working on for the past two years since the constitution was passed.They asked the Council of State (the government's legal advisers) for clarification and the answer that finally came down after years of debate finally paved the way to this renewed move to 2.1 GHz 3G licensing.
The answer was that the NTC could give out 2.1 GHz 3G licenses as it was not considered allocation of frequency in a way that needed consultation with the broadcasting regulator.
The NBTC is to be a merger of the NTC (telecommunications) and NBC (broadcasting) into the same body. While some, myself included, have said that dividing the NBTC into its proposed telecommunications arm and broadcasting arm is not a good idea and that it should be divided into an infrastructure layer and a content later, it is no doubt better than having two equal but separate organisations that must agree on frequency allocation. Its role is to write up a frequency map and issue licenses to operators, be it broadcasting (TV, radio) or cellular telephone operators.
The reasoning that the NTC can go ahead with 2.1 GHz 3G licensing was that the NTC still has jurisdiction over licensing anything that is purely telecommunications and will never be broadcasting.Since the International Telecommunications Union has decided 2.1 to be a purely telecommunications band, then by all means go ahead. However, for 2.3/2.5 GHz WiMAX, the frequency is also used by TV operators, thus a decision on WiMAX will have to wait for the NBTC to decide if those frequencies are to be used for WiMAX or for beaming television pictures in Thailand.
This argument sounds reasonable enough, but it is understood that not all the NTC commissioners are comfortable with this interpretation. After all,305(1) said that the NBTC had to be up and running within 180 days, so it could also be interpreted that the NTC only had jurisdiction for the 180 days after the new constitution took effect (it is now over two years). Also, it only protects any agreements made before the constitution took effect, not ones made afterwards. Any license issued by the NTC under these circumstances could be on shakey ground indeed.
If the licenses are subject to legal interpretation,the only way forward for the NTC is to ensure that all the bidders leave the table happy so nobody will lodge a challenge in the courts, but that runs against the idea of having a regulator in the first place. The regulator is supposed to be keeping the operators on their toes to ensure that the consumer gets a good deal. If the roles are reversed and it is the operators holding a legal knife against the regulator,what happens is collusion and when that happens,the consumer inevitably loses out. The NBTC would not be hampered and thus could be much stronger in its dealings with the operators.
We are talking 15-year concessions here and an entire generation might have to live with any bad decision that comes from what unfolds in upcoming months. Perhaps the roll-out requirements to rural areas is not as fast as the NTC would have liked, or perhaps the cost of the licenses are lower than what would be optimal.
Waiting for the NBTC would be very bad in terms of further lost opportunity and business productivity due to continued lack of telecommunications infrastructure. Pressing ahead might not work anyway as any loser of the auction might launch a legal challenge and land things in limbo while the courts work their way through the arguments. The Council of State, despite its fancy name, is essentially the government lawyer, not the courts.
The 2007 constitution came into force on August 24,2007 and successive governments have had the chance to set up the NBTC. If only Surayud, Samak,Somchai and even Abhisit had done their job properly, things would be so much clearer now.
On a side note, further light was shed on the 850 3G situation in that meeting. Given a choice, none of the operators would choose to use 850 for 3G under the current contract for two reasons. Firstly,the 30 percent revenue cut that has to go to the CAT Telecom as concession holder.2.1 GHz was always viewed as a way out of the revenue-share model. Secondly, with the concession ending in 2018, that leaves only nine years before any new 3G equipment has to be handed back to CAT, and nine years does not make for any economic model for a 3G roll-out, let alone one where a third of revenue has to sliced off. However, my source told me that from a regulatory standpoint, the 850 squabble was an purely an internal CAT matter.They could move DTac around and give a new license to TrueMove as from the government's point of view, it is CAT's frequency and CAT can do with it as it wishes.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Equinix chief sees potential in Thailand
A carrier neutral data centre in Thailand would become a marketplace that would kick-start the Internet ecosystem and drive down prices for the benefit of users, content providers and infrastructure providers alike.
Equinix Chief Technologist Lane Patterson.
Lane Patterson, Chief Technologist at Equinix explained how his company runs one of the region's largest carrier neutral data centres in Singapore and how it was key in the shift of telecommunications power from Japan and Korea down to Singapore over the last five or six years.
Thailand, with its two percent broadband penetration is full of future potential. The imminent explosion of smart mobile devices will lead to an explosion of innovation in software that depends on the network bandwidth pipe for growth.
One such Equinix customer used that model and bought bandwidth first in one gigabit per second increments, which soon became 10 gig increments before soon changing the landscape of user generated content. That company is YouTube.
Today Equinix partners with several major cloud computing operators. They have their data centres situated next to hydro-electric power plants to take advantage of cheap power, and they use Equinix for edge distribution with its presence in 30 of the world's top markets. In other words, by partnering with Equinix anyone will be within 50 milliseconds of 90 percent of the world's web population.
50ms is just enough for the latest generation of telepresence type solutions. Just a year ago, the codecs could only take 6ms of jitter and had to be run over dedicated networks. In one year there has been an order of magnitude in tolerance and allows telepresence to run over the Internet instead.
Patterson sees Thailand following the evolution of Japan and Korea with a local Internet for local language content while another track sees faster and better international links for companies to do business and drive the economy.
Equinix is positioned as a carrier neutral data centre. This is analogous to international airports that are not in the business of running airlines, but of running an airport. By doing so, it creates a marketplace where someone who specialises in sub sea cables can sell bandwidth to someone specialising in financial transactions. Others specialise in broadband or IP TV to the home or regional cables. By bringing these together under one roof a new partnership is as simple as one patch cable, rather than running a leased line across half a city.
"It is the only way it [the Internet industry] works and scales," Patterson said.
The first group of clients are typically five or six telcos and Internet companies that sell bandwidth. Second is content, Google Yahoo or Facebook, both for their edge delivery and in many cases actual compute and storage farms.
Third are the enterprises, either large companies like IBM that integrate systems and run them on behalf of their clients or the actual financial trading companies and banks that are themselves often as big and complicated as a mini-telco.
On the side there is a whole separate market for caching. Akamai and China Cache use Equinix a lot. These allow consumers to set up a website and have local access speeds across a region instantly.
All of these players put together under the same roof makes for a very vibrant ecosystem of 30 to 40 players who can make deals and implement them instantly.
Today Asia still lacks connectivity. The cost of wholesale bandwidth is still six to eight times as much as links between Europe and the United States because of lack of infrastructure. Only recently have companies such as Tata, Reliance and KDDI risen to this challenge, he said.
The consumer always wants faster broadband at a lower cost. Patterson said that putting aside the regulatory issues that are difficult to fix, a carrier neutral data centre much like Equinix would help Thailand to achieve that target. Would Equinix itself be interested in investing? Patterson said he was looking at the market.
By 2010 or 2011, the new 100 GBPS Ethernet standard will have arrived in the market. What this means is that the older 40G or 10G links which used to be premium will become commoditised as financial companies and telcos move to 100G and therefore more affordable for the rest of us.
The economic crisis seemed like it did not happen as broadband Internet has become an unstoppable force. People are now accustomed having untethered access to things rather than having to check their email in the office or Internet cafe.
One study in the United States asked people if they would rather give up their television or their broadband during the economic crisis and most said they would rather give up television.
Equinix Chief Technologist Lane Patterson.
Lane Patterson, Chief Technologist at Equinix explained how his company runs one of the region's largest carrier neutral data centres in Singapore and how it was key in the shift of telecommunications power from Japan and Korea down to Singapore over the last five or six years.
Thailand, with its two percent broadband penetration is full of future potential. The imminent explosion of smart mobile devices will lead to an explosion of innovation in software that depends on the network bandwidth pipe for growth.
One such Equinix customer used that model and bought bandwidth first in one gigabit per second increments, which soon became 10 gig increments before soon changing the landscape of user generated content. That company is YouTube.
Today Equinix partners with several major cloud computing operators. They have their data centres situated next to hydro-electric power plants to take advantage of cheap power, and they use Equinix for edge distribution with its presence in 30 of the world's top markets. In other words, by partnering with Equinix anyone will be within 50 milliseconds of 90 percent of the world's web population.
50ms is just enough for the latest generation of telepresence type solutions. Just a year ago, the codecs could only take 6ms of jitter and had to be run over dedicated networks. In one year there has been an order of magnitude in tolerance and allows telepresence to run over the Internet instead.
Patterson sees Thailand following the evolution of Japan and Korea with a local Internet for local language content while another track sees faster and better international links for companies to do business and drive the economy.
Equinix is positioned as a carrier neutral data centre. This is analogous to international airports that are not in the business of running airlines, but of running an airport. By doing so, it creates a marketplace where someone who specialises in sub sea cables can sell bandwidth to someone specialising in financial transactions. Others specialise in broadband or IP TV to the home or regional cables. By bringing these together under one roof a new partnership is as simple as one patch cable, rather than running a leased line across half a city.
"It is the only way it [the Internet industry] works and scales," Patterson said.
The first group of clients are typically five or six telcos and Internet companies that sell bandwidth. Second is content, Google Yahoo or Facebook, both for their edge delivery and in many cases actual compute and storage farms.
Third are the enterprises, either large companies like IBM that integrate systems and run them on behalf of their clients or the actual financial trading companies and banks that are themselves often as big and complicated as a mini-telco.
On the side there is a whole separate market for caching. Akamai and China Cache use Equinix a lot. These allow consumers to set up a website and have local access speeds across a region instantly.
All of these players put together under the same roof makes for a very vibrant ecosystem of 30 to 40 players who can make deals and implement them instantly.
Today Asia still lacks connectivity. The cost of wholesale bandwidth is still six to eight times as much as links between Europe and the United States because of lack of infrastructure. Only recently have companies such as Tata, Reliance and KDDI risen to this challenge, he said.
The consumer always wants faster broadband at a lower cost. Patterson said that putting aside the regulatory issues that are difficult to fix, a carrier neutral data centre much like Equinix would help Thailand to achieve that target. Would Equinix itself be interested in investing? Patterson said he was looking at the market.
By 2010 or 2011, the new 100 GBPS Ethernet standard will have arrived in the market. What this means is that the older 40G or 10G links which used to be premium will become commoditised as financial companies and telcos move to 100G and therefore more affordable for the rest of us.
The economic crisis seemed like it did not happen as broadband Internet has become an unstoppable force. People are now accustomed having untethered access to things rather than having to check their email in the office or Internet cafe.
One study in the United States asked people if they would rather give up their television or their broadband during the economic crisis and most said they would rather give up television.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
THE COST OF MAKING A SOCIAL NETWORKING GAFFE
Today, a cellphone and a couple of e-mail addresses are no longer considered adequate tools by most of us to maintain our active social lives.
Regardless of age, Internet - based social networking is the new way to stay in touch.
Unless you've been living in the Sahara for the last few years, you'll have heard or read about Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Friendster, MySpace and LinkedIn.
The websites have their respective rules and regulations on, among others, membership, mesage content and procedures in sending and receiving messages.
And with minor vairations, the membership process requires the applicant to give relevant information about him or her self , his desired website identification and the password he will use to send andreceive messages.
One accepted, a member may post a photo to accompany his website ID. He can use his best looking pictures (baby or high school photos included) or, if he prefers to be incognito, those of his favourite dog or ca.
There is no reliable way of verifying the accuracy of the data submitted by the members. Any information posted must be taken at its face value and at the peril of whoever relies on it.
Unless reuired to keep to a particular subject matter, members are free to express their thoughts and comment on anything and everything.
Inevitably, access to such freedom of expression has resulted in some members releasing pent-up emotions and venting anger and frustration about their lives.
Taking advantage of the perceived anonymity that the Internet offers, disgruntled employees feel secure in sending messages that are critical of the company, that are critical of the companyt, their bosses and, worse, their products.
Some social networking websites have even become venues for unscrupulous parties to slander businss competitors.
By the time the adversely affected party gets wind of the unfavourable material (assuming it does) and requests its removal, the message has already circulated within the website community.
So what can the "victim" do after critical comments are removed or if the administrator turns down a demand for the removal of a rant from the messsge board?
Short of going to court, his only remendy is to post his side of the story on the same website and pray that the readers believe it.
In an effort to minimise and put a quick end to such underhanded tactics, some companies in the US and other countries now have people closely monitoring the traffic on popular social net working web-sites.
If the culprits can be identified, the company can file a complaint for damages to deter others from doing something similar.
While far from easy, it's not imposssible to trace the identity and location of networking members who post libellous or disparaging messages.
If the sender gave his true name and address when applying for membership, there's virtually no sleuthing. It's like picking up a clenan fingerprint at the crime scene.
But using an alias or submitting false information does not mean that the errant poster or mailer can rest easy.
According to computer forensic experts, all e-mail material leaes a trail to its original source, regardless of the number of times it has moved form one site to another.
Even deleted messages leave tracs or footprints in thier servers which, through painstaking efforts and with the aid of high-tech equipment, can be reconstituted and read.
So becareful with that message to your social netowrk links that badmouths your company or manager. Someone you may have wronged a long time ago may stumble on it and forward it to your supervisor.
Playful banter about pranks or petty crimes committed in school or at work, including youthful escapades, may accidentally be read by the staff of the company to which you have applied for a job.
And always bear in mind that once a message or photo is uploaded in the Internet, that material can be read, not only by its intended receiver, but by anyone who has access to a computer.
"Even deleted messages leave traces or footprints in their servers which, through painstaking efforts and with the aid of hi-tech equipment, can be reconstituted and read."
Regardless of age, Internet - based social networking is the new way to stay in touch.
Unless you've been living in the Sahara for the last few years, you'll have heard or read about Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Friendster, MySpace and LinkedIn.
The websites have their respective rules and regulations on, among others, membership, mesage content and procedures in sending and receiving messages.
And with minor vairations, the membership process requires the applicant to give relevant information about him or her self , his desired website identification and the password he will use to send andreceive messages.
One accepted, a member may post a photo to accompany his website ID. He can use his best looking pictures (baby or high school photos included) or, if he prefers to be incognito, those of his favourite dog or ca.
There is no reliable way of verifying the accuracy of the data submitted by the members. Any information posted must be taken at its face value and at the peril of whoever relies on it.
Unless reuired to keep to a particular subject matter, members are free to express their thoughts and comment on anything and everything.
Inevitably, access to such freedom of expression has resulted in some members releasing pent-up emotions and venting anger and frustration about their lives.
Taking advantage of the perceived anonymity that the Internet offers, disgruntled employees feel secure in sending messages that are critical of the company, that are critical of the companyt, their bosses and, worse, their products.
Some social networking websites have even become venues for unscrupulous parties to slander businss competitors.
By the time the adversely affected party gets wind of the unfavourable material (assuming it does) and requests its removal, the message has already circulated within the website community.
So what can the "victim" do after critical comments are removed or if the administrator turns down a demand for the removal of a rant from the messsge board?
Short of going to court, his only remendy is to post his side of the story on the same website and pray that the readers believe it.
In an effort to minimise and put a quick end to such underhanded tactics, some companies in the US and other countries now have people closely monitoring the traffic on popular social net working web-sites.
If the culprits can be identified, the company can file a complaint for damages to deter others from doing something similar.
While far from easy, it's not imposssible to trace the identity and location of networking members who post libellous or disparaging messages.
If the sender gave his true name and address when applying for membership, there's virtually no sleuthing. It's like picking up a clenan fingerprint at the crime scene.
But using an alias or submitting false information does not mean that the errant poster or mailer can rest easy.
According to computer forensic experts, all e-mail material leaes a trail to its original source, regardless of the number of times it has moved form one site to another.
Even deleted messages leave tracs or footprints in thier servers which, through painstaking efforts and with the aid of high-tech equipment, can be reconstituted and read.
So becareful with that message to your social netowrk links that badmouths your company or manager. Someone you may have wronged a long time ago may stumble on it and forward it to your supervisor.
Playful banter about pranks or petty crimes committed in school or at work, including youthful escapades, may accidentally be read by the staff of the company to which you have applied for a job.
And always bear in mind that once a message or photo is uploaded in the Internet, that material can be read, not only by its intended receiver, but by anyone who has access to a computer.
"Even deleted messages leave traces or footprints in their servers which, through painstaking efforts and with the aid of hi-tech equipment, can be reconstituted and read."
Saturday, September 12, 2009
WiMax licences expected soon after 3G
The national telecom regulator intends to grant WiMax wireless broadband spectrum licences shortly after the auction of the 2.1-gigahertz third-generation spectrum licences. National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) commissioner Sethaporn Cusripituck yesterday said if the NTC auctioned the 3G licences in early December, the WiMax-spectrum licences would be granted shortly after that.
He was speaking at the first public hearing on broadband wireless-access licensing and regulations for new technology services, including WiMax.
Recently, NTC chairman Choochart Phromprasid said the watchdog intended to auction four 3G licences in December.
Wi-Max provides wireless broadband connection service within a wide range.
Sethaporn said the licence was likely to be granted via the auction, the same as the 3G spectrum licences, and that the NTC was considering whether to allow the 3G-licence winners to own the WiMax licences, as well.
A CAT Telecom representative told the hearing that the WiMax licences should not be granted via the auction, given that CAT was not cash-rich enough to seek the licence that way.
The NTC decided to grant only the 2.3GHz spectrum for WiMax-service development, given that the other potential choice - the 2.5GHz spectrum - had been in use in the broadcasting business. It may have to wait for the new regulator, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, to get up and running and reallocate the 2.5GHz spectrum.
The NTC also must take back the 2.3GHz spectrum from many state agencies now using the spectrum band. Of the total 100-megahertz bandwidth of the spectrum, TOT owns 64MHz bandwidth, while military agencies use a combined 30MHz bandwidth, and CAT4MHz bandwidth.
The NTC appointed Sethaporn as chairman of the committee to negotiate the return of the 2.3GHz spectrum.
Sethaporn said WiMax-licence applicants would be required to pay for the cost of the spectrum reallocation and related costs to the existing spectrum-owners. The applicants can combine both the cost of the spectrum reallocation and the licence fee together when applying for the licences.
He said the NTC might be flexible in taking back the 2.3GHz spectrum from TOT, which intends to develop WiMax service.
"We may ask TOT to tell us how much, out of the total bandwidth amount it owns, it wants to keep for WiMax-service development, and then we'll take back the remaining amount for the reallocation," Sethaporn said.
TOT and True are eager to develop WiMax service to complement their existing fast-growing fixed-line-based broadband-Internet service.
The NTC will grant both nationwide and regional licences and decide how many after the hearing. It has already determined a nationwide licence will feature 30MHz bandwidth, while a regional licence will feature 20MHz.
He was speaking at the first public hearing on broadband wireless-access licensing and regulations for new technology services, including WiMax.
Recently, NTC chairman Choochart Phromprasid said the watchdog intended to auction four 3G licences in December.
Wi-Max provides wireless broadband connection service within a wide range.
Sethaporn said the licence was likely to be granted via the auction, the same as the 3G spectrum licences, and that the NTC was considering whether to allow the 3G-licence winners to own the WiMax licences, as well.
A CAT Telecom representative told the hearing that the WiMax licences should not be granted via the auction, given that CAT was not cash-rich enough to seek the licence that way.
The NTC decided to grant only the 2.3GHz spectrum for WiMax-service development, given that the other potential choice - the 2.5GHz spectrum - had been in use in the broadcasting business. It may have to wait for the new regulator, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, to get up and running and reallocate the 2.5GHz spectrum.
The NTC also must take back the 2.3GHz spectrum from many state agencies now using the spectrum band. Of the total 100-megahertz bandwidth of the spectrum, TOT owns 64MHz bandwidth, while military agencies use a combined 30MHz bandwidth, and CAT4MHz bandwidth.
The NTC appointed Sethaporn as chairman of the committee to negotiate the return of the 2.3GHz spectrum.
Sethaporn said WiMax-licence applicants would be required to pay for the cost of the spectrum reallocation and related costs to the existing spectrum-owners. The applicants can combine both the cost of the spectrum reallocation and the licence fee together when applying for the licences.
He said the NTC might be flexible in taking back the 2.3GHz spectrum from TOT, which intends to develop WiMax service.
"We may ask TOT to tell us how much, out of the total bandwidth amount it owns, it wants to keep for WiMax-service development, and then we'll take back the remaining amount for the reallocation," Sethaporn said.
TOT and True are eager to develop WiMax service to complement their existing fast-growing fixed-line-based broadband-Internet service.
The NTC will grant both nationwide and regional licences and decide how many after the hearing. It has already determined a nationwide licence will feature 30MHz bandwidth, while a regional licence will feature 20MHz.
Friday, September 11, 2009
National Telecommunications Commission
As communications technologies continue to evolve and seemingly evaporate large geographical distances, bringing the most remote areas of the world within instantaneous reach, we asmembers of society, can often be guilty of overlooking the important role telecomunication regulating authorities play in ensuring new and existing forms of telecommunications are implemented properly with due consideration for consumers and businesses.
While scholars and social commentators continue to debate the impact and scope of social changes emerging as part of the globalization phenomenon entailed within telecommunications developments, it seems universally agreed upon that the quantity of information being exchangeed in contemporary society will continue to increase to levels previously unseen in human history. Suc exchanges of information require careful planning from regional and national governments to ensure that powerful telecommunications conglomerates do not unfairly take advantage of consurmers, and that certain channels of communication are reserved to serve the greater public good, rather than just commercial interests. In Thailand, this important responsibility has been entrusted to the national Telecommunications Commission (NTC)-the first independent state telecommunications regulator, headed by Chairman General Choochart Promphrasid.
Established by Royal proclamation on 1 October, 2004, the NTc operates to meet the goals of the "Master Plan on Telecomunications Development,' as approved by Cabinet on 4 November 1997. The NTC operates withh a substantial range of duties and responsibilities, revolving primarily around the public laws, security, science, culture, technology, consumer protection, and market regualation of all telecommunications services in the Kingdom.
Under the guidance of a number of the nation's leading media specialists, the NTC handles a wide range of important tasks and duties, including the formation of criteria and categories for telecommunication service providers, the awarding of licenses to telecommunications companies, setting standards and required technical specifications for service operators, the formulation of tariff structures and services, consumer protection measures, as well as a multitude of other responsibilities pertaining to market conditions and regulations.
Currently, the NTC charter covers all forms of telecommunications technology, including radio, television and internet. New and emerging telecommunications technologies, such as 3G (3rd Generation) and WiMAX, which are yet to be fully implemented in Thailand, are currently the focus of the NTC in 2009 and beyond, with spectrum assignment and licensing for 3G services expected to be completed by the end of 2009.
According to NTC Commissioner Professor Prasit Prapinmongkolkam, the process of 3G implementation is nearly completed, with all technical details already worked out, except the assignment of the spectrum frequencies, which will be completed by December when an electronic auction is held in which service operators can bid for spectrum bandwidth.
"We have been working on the 3G system for more than three years, and this year we will hold an auction for the use of the spectrum. We must however, be careful that we reserve some of the spectrum for specific, non-commercial use, because the spectrum is a limited resource and we must consider the interests of the nation and the people. We will carefully consider the bidding companies' intentions when we award use of the spectrums, so as to not only seek financial gains, but other telecommunications benefits to help the people of Thailand," says Prof. Prasit.
the emergence of WiMAX technology is another concern for the NTC as it offers several advantages to rural areas of Thailand which currently lack sufficient access to internet and other forms of telecommunications technology. WiMAX has excellent potential to help farmers and those who rely on agricultural products for their liveihood as it provides wider, faster network coverage and could offer up-to-date market conditions and prices. Plans are being made by the NTC for WiMAX spectrum allocation, although this will have to be matched by appropriate market demand and development of the WiMAX system, which is currently only operating in a few North American cities.
For broadband operators, the NTC has established three differant types of licenses which will ensure the correct and most efficient management of internet access for both consumers and service providers, with regulations in place for various types of companies, both big and small, who seek to provide internet access for everyday consumers. Outside of technical matters, one of the foremost duties of the NTC is to oversee the continued preservation of a "free and fair," telecommunications market-that is, a market free from monopolization or unfair competition. Essentially, the NTC acts as the "front desk" for telecommunications complaints regarding unfair treatment of consurmers by operating a free hotline number which receives consumer cases and acts accordingly. In the case of unfair treatment of consumers, the NTC has the power to revoke and suspend telecommunications licenses for infringements of service agreements, and thus works in the interests of the everday citizen who might otherise be forgotten.
The NTC is also responsible for a number of telecommunications training programmes, human resources development, and informing society of how to best utilize emerging technology systems. As such, a number of workshops are organised by the NTC on issues such as mobile payment management, financiali transaction security, and how new technology can be used to benefit their everday lives, while also warning of the dangers and pitfalls that consumers can fall into. these workshops, known as "Chalard Chai" (smart use) select graduate and undergraduate students from around the country to participate in-depth courses so as to develop a network of greater understanding among Thai people., while also promoting individual research by the students themselves. A number of education scholarships are also offered to students seeking to study abroad, with deserving parties able to study in the USA, France or England, depending on their field of study.
While scholars and social commentators continue to debate the impact and scope of social changes emerging as part of the globalization phenomenon entailed within telecommunications developments, it seems universally agreed upon that the quantity of information being exchangeed in contemporary society will continue to increase to levels previously unseen in human history. Suc exchanges of information require careful planning from regional and national governments to ensure that powerful telecommunications conglomerates do not unfairly take advantage of consurmers, and that certain channels of communication are reserved to serve the greater public good, rather than just commercial interests. In Thailand, this important responsibility has been entrusted to the national Telecommunications Commission (NTC)-the first independent state telecommunications regulator, headed by Chairman General Choochart Promphrasid.
Established by Royal proclamation on 1 October, 2004, the NTc operates to meet the goals of the "Master Plan on Telecomunications Development,' as approved by Cabinet on 4 November 1997. The NTC operates withh a substantial range of duties and responsibilities, revolving primarily around the public laws, security, science, culture, technology, consumer protection, and market regualation of all telecommunications services in the Kingdom.
Under the guidance of a number of the nation's leading media specialists, the NTC handles a wide range of important tasks and duties, including the formation of criteria and categories for telecommunication service providers, the awarding of licenses to telecommunications companies, setting standards and required technical specifications for service operators, the formulation of tariff structures and services, consumer protection measures, as well as a multitude of other responsibilities pertaining to market conditions and regulations.
Currently, the NTC charter covers all forms of telecommunications technology, including radio, television and internet. New and emerging telecommunications technologies, such as 3G (3rd Generation) and WiMAX, which are yet to be fully implemented in Thailand, are currently the focus of the NTC in 2009 and beyond, with spectrum assignment and licensing for 3G services expected to be completed by the end of 2009.
According to NTC Commissioner Professor Prasit Prapinmongkolkam, the process of 3G implementation is nearly completed, with all technical details already worked out, except the assignment of the spectrum frequencies, which will be completed by December when an electronic auction is held in which service operators can bid for spectrum bandwidth.
"We have been working on the 3G system for more than three years, and this year we will hold an auction for the use of the spectrum. We must however, be careful that we reserve some of the spectrum for specific, non-commercial use, because the spectrum is a limited resource and we must consider the interests of the nation and the people. We will carefully consider the bidding companies' intentions when we award use of the spectrums, so as to not only seek financial gains, but other telecommunications benefits to help the people of Thailand," says Prof. Prasit.
the emergence of WiMAX technology is another concern for the NTC as it offers several advantages to rural areas of Thailand which currently lack sufficient access to internet and other forms of telecommunications technology. WiMAX has excellent potential to help farmers and those who rely on agricultural products for their liveihood as it provides wider, faster network coverage and could offer up-to-date market conditions and prices. Plans are being made by the NTC for WiMAX spectrum allocation, although this will have to be matched by appropriate market demand and development of the WiMAX system, which is currently only operating in a few North American cities.
For broadband operators, the NTC has established three differant types of licenses which will ensure the correct and most efficient management of internet access for both consumers and service providers, with regulations in place for various types of companies, both big and small, who seek to provide internet access for everyday consumers. Outside of technical matters, one of the foremost duties of the NTC is to oversee the continued preservation of a "free and fair," telecommunications market-that is, a market free from monopolization or unfair competition. Essentially, the NTC acts as the "front desk" for telecommunications complaints regarding unfair treatment of consurmers by operating a free hotline number which receives consumer cases and acts accordingly. In the case of unfair treatment of consumers, the NTC has the power to revoke and suspend telecommunications licenses for infringements of service agreements, and thus works in the interests of the everday citizen who might otherise be forgotten.
The NTC is also responsible for a number of telecommunications training programmes, human resources development, and informing society of how to best utilize emerging technology systems. As such, a number of workshops are organised by the NTC on issues such as mobile payment management, financiali transaction security, and how new technology can be used to benefit their everday lives, while also warning of the dangers and pitfalls that consumers can fall into. these workshops, known as "Chalard Chai" (smart use) select graduate and undergraduate students from around the country to participate in-depth courses so as to develop a network of greater understanding among Thai people., while also promoting individual research by the students themselves. A number of education scholarships are also offered to students seeking to study abroad, with deserving parties able to study in the USA, France or England, depending on their field of study.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
A primer on 3G
The standard known as 3G, or Wideband CDMA, IS-95, was developed in 1995 but it was not until the early 2000s that it was deployed commercially.
The names are confusing - WCDMA is an evolution of the European-centric GSM For 4G, while WCDMA evolved into LTE (Long Term Evolution).
CDMA, the American 2G standard, evolved into CDMA EV-DO, which is also deployed in Thailand outside of the central provinces by CAT. Later, it evolved into the Ultra Mobile Broadband standard (UMB). However, it seems that all carriers, even those using EV-DO, are now focusing on LTE for 4G and that UMB is to all intents dead in the water.
Frequencies can also be confusing. At first, virtually all WCDMA 3G (we are not talking about EV-DO) were at 2100 MHz or 2.1 GHz in Europe and most of Asia. Australia went with 850 MHz and the USA, always intent on doing things differently from the rest of the world, went with a combination of 850 and 1900. Today, Europe is moving to 900/2100 (re-farming old 900 GSM). In Thailand, TrueMove and DTac use 850 and AIS uses 900 for their trial networks. Most new phones imported to Thailand are Euro-spec, meaning 900/2100; the iPhone, Blackberry and most HP Windows Mobile devices being the major exceptions with 850/2100.
Lower frequencies are better, with both bigger cells and better indoor coverage. However, there is not enough low-frequency space available to meet demand from everyone who wants it.
Speeds are going up and up. WCDMA started at just 384 KBPS (about 0.38 MBPS). Now HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) has a top speed of 14.4 MBPS. However, most networks say that the latest 7.2 or 14.4 upgrades are their last as they are now gearing up for 4G LTE as their next upgrade.
By next year, some countries will have rolled out 4G LTE commercially. Yet Thailand still has not decided on how to license 3G.
The names are confusing - WCDMA is an evolution of the European-centric GSM For 4G, while WCDMA evolved into LTE (Long Term Evolution).
CDMA, the American 2G standard, evolved into CDMA EV-DO, which is also deployed in Thailand outside of the central provinces by CAT. Later, it evolved into the Ultra Mobile Broadband standard (UMB). However, it seems that all carriers, even those using EV-DO, are now focusing on LTE for 4G and that UMB is to all intents dead in the water.
Frequencies can also be confusing. At first, virtually all WCDMA 3G (we are not talking about EV-DO) were at 2100 MHz or 2.1 GHz in Europe and most of Asia. Australia went with 850 MHz and the USA, always intent on doing things differently from the rest of the world, went with a combination of 850 and 1900. Today, Europe is moving to 900/2100 (re-farming old 900 GSM). In Thailand, TrueMove and DTac use 850 and AIS uses 900 for their trial networks. Most new phones imported to Thailand are Euro-spec, meaning 900/2100; the iPhone, Blackberry and most HP Windows Mobile devices being the major exceptions with 850/2100.
Lower frequencies are better, with both bigger cells and better indoor coverage. However, there is not enough low-frequency space available to meet demand from everyone who wants it.
Speeds are going up and up. WCDMA started at just 384 KBPS (about 0.38 MBPS). Now HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) has a top speed of 14.4 MBPS. However, most networks say that the latest 7.2 or 14.4 upgrades are their last as they are now gearing up for 4G LTE as their next upgrade.
By next year, some countries will have rolled out 4G LTE commercially. Yet Thailand still has not decided on how to license 3G.
Monday, September 7, 2009
THREE FIRMS READY TO OFFER BROADBAND WIRELESS SERVICE
Three firms have proposed to use TOT's existing cellular network, which is being upgraded to the 3G technology, to provide a 3G wireless boradband service.
TOT president Varut Suvakorn yesterday mentioned only two of them, Samart Corp and 365 Communications.
365 Communications was reportedly founded by a group of experts in e-banking solutions development led by Surin Ritteephamorn, vice president for e-business of consumer finance provider Krungthai Card.
Wichien Naksrinual, a TOT senior executive vice president, said the state enterprise would call in the three firms to propose their terms and conditions as mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), including their plans to purchase airtime, their marketing details and their customer targets.
MVNOs do not have their own network but buy airtime from telecom operators to provide their cellular service.
Wichien expects that TOT could wrap up the deals with them at the end of this month and then they would sign non-disclosure agreements.
He said that no cellular operator would propose to be an MVNO on TOT's 3G network as this might prejudice their planned bid for a 3G licence from the National Telecommunications Commision on the 3.1GHz spectrum.
TOT is upgrading 500 base stations on its 1900MHz network in Greater Bangkok to 3G, which provides wireless data transmission at a blazing speed to 3G mobile phone users.
It expects to be ready to kick off the network service on December 1.
The network for the upgrade has the capacity to serve 500,000 customers.
TOT will utilise part of it to provide its own retail 3G service, targeting 100,000 customers in the first month.
Wichien said Advanced Info Service and True Move are interested in allowing the users of TOT's network to roam with their networks for voice calls when they travel outside Greater Bangkok.
TOT is also interested in allowing the subscribers of the two cellular operators, who have 3G phones, to roam with its network for fast downloads of multimedia content.
TOT plans to spend some Bt20 billion on rolling out the new 3G network nationwide but the project is pending Cabinet approval.
TOT is upgrading 500 base stations on its 1900MHz network in Greater Bangkok to 3G, which provides wireless data transmission at a blazing speed to 3G mobile phone users.
TOT president Varut Suvakorn yesterday mentioned only two of them, Samart Corp and 365 Communications.
365 Communications was reportedly founded by a group of experts in e-banking solutions development led by Surin Ritteephamorn, vice president for e-business of consumer finance provider Krungthai Card.
Wichien Naksrinual, a TOT senior executive vice president, said the state enterprise would call in the three firms to propose their terms and conditions as mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), including their plans to purchase airtime, their marketing details and their customer targets.
MVNOs do not have their own network but buy airtime from telecom operators to provide their cellular service.
Wichien expects that TOT could wrap up the deals with them at the end of this month and then they would sign non-disclosure agreements.
He said that no cellular operator would propose to be an MVNO on TOT's 3G network as this might prejudice their planned bid for a 3G licence from the National Telecommunications Commision on the 3.1GHz spectrum.
TOT is upgrading 500 base stations on its 1900MHz network in Greater Bangkok to 3G, which provides wireless data transmission at a blazing speed to 3G mobile phone users.
It expects to be ready to kick off the network service on December 1.
The network for the upgrade has the capacity to serve 500,000 customers.
TOT will utilise part of it to provide its own retail 3G service, targeting 100,000 customers in the first month.
Wichien said Advanced Info Service and True Move are interested in allowing the users of TOT's network to roam with their networks for voice calls when they travel outside Greater Bangkok.
TOT is also interested in allowing the subscribers of the two cellular operators, who have 3G phones, to roam with its network for fast downloads of multimedia content.
TOT plans to spend some Bt20 billion on rolling out the new 3G network nationwide but the project is pending Cabinet approval.
TOT is upgrading 500 base stations on its 1900MHz network in Greater Bangkok to 3G, which provides wireless data transmission at a blazing speed to 3G mobile phone users.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
JASMINE SETS ITSELF HIGH TARGET
Jasmine International has set an ambitious goal for the broadband Internet flagship of its telecom empire to take the market crown next year, despite the stuttering economy and cut-throat competition.
"The broadband market is apparently on the growth path, thanks to rising service demand," CEO Pete Bodharamik said last week.
The sagging economy has stalled the market's momentum only slightly, Pete, JAS' largest shareholder with over 17 per cent, said in an interview with The Nation.
JAS' broadband Internet service provider, Triple T Broadband, is targeting to serve over one million subscribers next year, up from over 600,000 projected for this year-end. It currently has over 500,000 subscribers, up from 300,000 last year.
Triple T Broadband's market share is expected to grow to 33 per cent at the end of this year from the present 25 per cent.
The revenue contribution from JAS' broadband group, which includes Triple T Broadband and Triple T Internet, is expected to surge between 40 per cent and almost 50 per cent, up from 31 per cent or Bt1.74 billion last year.
Triple T Broadband alone generated revenue of Bt1.73 billion in 2008, up from Bt1.23 billion in 2007.
It lies in third place behind True Corp, which targets 700,000 subscribers by year-end, up from 650,000 now, and TOT, which aims to raise its subscribers to one million by year-end from 800,000 at present.
Triple T Broadband's strategy to further grow its subscriber base involves competitive pricing, faster connections and wider network coverage.
JAS' main investment this year has been Triple T Broadband's capacity expansion. It will spend Bt1.5 billion in the second half to raise service capacity to 1 million subscribers, after spending Bt1 billion on network expansion in the first half.
JAS' wholly owned subsidiary, Acumen, has funded part of the broadband network expansion with its own cash, while bank loans and telecom network suppliers' credit have provided the rest of the capital.
Early last month, Triple T Broadband sold shares through a rights offering. Acumen raised its stake in Triple T Broadband from 90 per cent to 99 per cent by buying shares in its allotment and those foregone by TT&T. The move diluted TT&T's holding in Triple T Broadband to 1 per cent. JAS and TT&T have locked horns following this, as TT&T said it maintained the right to buy Triple T Broadband shares.
Pete said he understands TT&T's reaction but Acumen has already concluded its share increase in Triple T Broadband.
JAS is TT&T's largest shareholder with 24.99 per cent.
Acumen, which offers Wi-Fi wireless Internet via 6,000 hotspots nationwide, is gradually expanding its Wi-Fi network coverage.
Pete said the group's investment budget next year depends on the market situation.
Jasmine Telecom Systems (JTS), which provides turnkey telecom services and solutions, is interested in bidding on the 3G broadband wireless network rollout for TOT.
TOT plans to spend over Bt20 billion on taking the 3G network nationwide for lease to telecom operators but the project is still pending Cabinet approval.
Another major telecom holding firm, Samart Corp, is also keen to bid for the 3G network supply deal from TOT.
But JAS is not interested in becoming a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), Pete said, citing the business' low margins and JAS' focus on its core business of broadband service.
An MVNO does not have its own network but leases bandwidth from a cellular operator to provide mobile phone service.
JTS is also interested in providing telecom equipment to CAT Telecom's project to offer broadband Internet service via a fibre optic network, or the so-called fibre-to-the-x (FTTx).
CAT will spend Bt6 billion on developing FTTx in greater Bangkok as part of the Abhisit administration's Thai Khem Khaeng" (Invest for Strength) economic stimulus programme, which means the FTTx project will receive government priority and fast-track approval.
"The broadband market is apparently on the growth path, thanks to rising service demand," CEO Pete Bodharamik said last week.
The sagging economy has stalled the market's momentum only slightly, Pete, JAS' largest shareholder with over 17 per cent, said in an interview with The Nation.
JAS' broadband Internet service provider, Triple T Broadband, is targeting to serve over one million subscribers next year, up from over 600,000 projected for this year-end. It currently has over 500,000 subscribers, up from 300,000 last year.
Triple T Broadband's market share is expected to grow to 33 per cent at the end of this year from the present 25 per cent.
The revenue contribution from JAS' broadband group, which includes Triple T Broadband and Triple T Internet, is expected to surge between 40 per cent and almost 50 per cent, up from 31 per cent or Bt1.74 billion last year.
Triple T Broadband alone generated revenue of Bt1.73 billion in 2008, up from Bt1.23 billion in 2007.
It lies in third place behind True Corp, which targets 700,000 subscribers by year-end, up from 650,000 now, and TOT, which aims to raise its subscribers to one million by year-end from 800,000 at present.
Triple T Broadband's strategy to further grow its subscriber base involves competitive pricing, faster connections and wider network coverage.
JAS' main investment this year has been Triple T Broadband's capacity expansion. It will spend Bt1.5 billion in the second half to raise service capacity to 1 million subscribers, after spending Bt1 billion on network expansion in the first half.
JAS' wholly owned subsidiary, Acumen, has funded part of the broadband network expansion with its own cash, while bank loans and telecom network suppliers' credit have provided the rest of the capital.
Early last month, Triple T Broadband sold shares through a rights offering. Acumen raised its stake in Triple T Broadband from 90 per cent to 99 per cent by buying shares in its allotment and those foregone by TT&T. The move diluted TT&T's holding in Triple T Broadband to 1 per cent. JAS and TT&T have locked horns following this, as TT&T said it maintained the right to buy Triple T Broadband shares.
Pete said he understands TT&T's reaction but Acumen has already concluded its share increase in Triple T Broadband.
JAS is TT&T's largest shareholder with 24.99 per cent.
Acumen, which offers Wi-Fi wireless Internet via 6,000 hotspots nationwide, is gradually expanding its Wi-Fi network coverage.
Pete said the group's investment budget next year depends on the market situation.
Jasmine Telecom Systems (JTS), which provides turnkey telecom services and solutions, is interested in bidding on the 3G broadband wireless network rollout for TOT.
TOT plans to spend over Bt20 billion on taking the 3G network nationwide for lease to telecom operators but the project is still pending Cabinet approval.
Another major telecom holding firm, Samart Corp, is also keen to bid for the 3G network supply deal from TOT.
But JAS is not interested in becoming a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), Pete said, citing the business' low margins and JAS' focus on its core business of broadband service.
An MVNO does not have its own network but leases bandwidth from a cellular operator to provide mobile phone service.
JTS is also interested in providing telecom equipment to CAT Telecom's project to offer broadband Internet service via a fibre optic network, or the so-called fibre-to-the-x (FTTx).
CAT will spend Bt6 billion on developing FTTx in greater Bangkok as part of the Abhisit administration's Thai Khem Khaeng" (Invest for Strength) economic stimulus programme, which means the FTTx project will receive government priority and fast-track approval.
INTERNET EMERGING AS A NEW STAGE FOR PUBLIC DEBATE
But there are also worries whether these online discussions are degenerating into reckless rhetoric One of the by-products of the Internet is the proliferation of contributors expressing their diverse and lively political views on a number of news Websites and blogs. Thailand is no exception and the trend appears to be that an increasing number of people are participating in online political discussion and debate.
The challenge now is how to harness this new "public sphere", to borrow the notion from German philosopher Jurgen Habermas, towards the goal of making it a force for democracy and mutual understanding.
Online posting is not always constructive and questions remain as to how relevant it is to democracy and helping us understand one another as members of a society.
Some are put off by the online ranting, character assassination unleashed by some participants. Others doubt if people can really learn and listen from one another as some tend to just post highly dogmatic and incendiary remarks online in an apparent attempt to reinforce their own belief or to just let off steam.
The anonymous nature of many of the online contributors also poses doubt about the reliability of information and the trustworthiness of the remarks of these online participants.
The reasons for someone choosing to remain anonymous may differ. Some may simply feel their profession or real-life identity may be in conflict with some of their political views. Others may simply enjoy their second or third alter ego online. It's fair to question, however, whether one can or should trust another person online who resorts to using funny or even sober aliases in order to ensure that you may never know his or her real identity.
Some of these anonymous online contributors tend to become reckless and excessive in their choice of words, leading to unpleasant feelings and even defamation-related crimes such as those under lese majeste law. While people may and should debate on the merit of the lese majeste law, outright verbal attacks online, especially those that are unsubstantiated have led to a feeling that the online virtual debating community is degenerating into verbal abuse and uncompromising dogmatism, both from the political left and right. These reckless and vicious contributors end up dissuading others who may otherwise wish to engage in a more cool-headed and rational debate, dialogue and deliberation.
On the other hand, the risk of having the ICT Ministry monitor some political views is a potential hazard for some of the contributors and a damning verdict on the state of Thai democracy.
There's also the issue of digital-divide which restricts this new online public sphere to an arena for mostly the educated middle class and elite. Also, some of the online sites tend to be too specialised and parochial to claim to have a greater concern for society and serve as a public arena.
Does online interaction also serve as a disincentive to people from meeting face-to-face to discuss and act together for a common political cause as some may have felt they have already spent much energy online? There is no easy answer and some would argue otherwise.
Another caveat is the issue of how many people are really engaged in such online political debate. Are there just a handful of regular contributors and how many carefully and open-mindedly read other postings? Can the site and debate qualify as a public sphere if less than a dozen people, mostly using alias, participate? There's no clear answer.
On the other hand, proponents and optimists say this is the most politically open public space to date, and not just for Thailand, as virtual reality knows no boundaries.
Unlike the print media, anyone with an access to the Internet can just type their political view and conviction with minimum or no censorship - though some eventually ended up convicted for violating the lese majeste law.
The arena is also technically open to all. The debating thread interactive and the discussion and debate can go on and on, in real time, and across the continents. People can learn from so many others of diverse background, age and gender, from people whom they may otherwise never meet in life and could deliberate, form a common judgement on particular issues if not eventually meet and act together off-line.
The strength of online political debates and networking may also serve as a new force in countering what is otherwise an overwhelming state power and its control over most of the broadcast media, as well as corporations' pervasive influence over society, advocates say.
In the end, whether one is optimistic or pessimistic, this new virtual sphere of political interaction is here to stay and as it proliferates and grows more thinking is needed on how to make it more public and conducive to the maturing of Thai politics and beyond.
The challenge now is how to harness this new "public sphere", to borrow the notion from German philosopher Jurgen Habermas, towards the goal of making it a force for democracy and mutual understanding.
Online posting is not always constructive and questions remain as to how relevant it is to democracy and helping us understand one another as members of a society.
Some are put off by the online ranting, character assassination unleashed by some participants. Others doubt if people can really learn and listen from one another as some tend to just post highly dogmatic and incendiary remarks online in an apparent attempt to reinforce their own belief or to just let off steam.
The anonymous nature of many of the online contributors also poses doubt about the reliability of information and the trustworthiness of the remarks of these online participants.
The reasons for someone choosing to remain anonymous may differ. Some may simply feel their profession or real-life identity may be in conflict with some of their political views. Others may simply enjoy their second or third alter ego online. It's fair to question, however, whether one can or should trust another person online who resorts to using funny or even sober aliases in order to ensure that you may never know his or her real identity.
Some of these anonymous online contributors tend to become reckless and excessive in their choice of words, leading to unpleasant feelings and even defamation-related crimes such as those under lese majeste law. While people may and should debate on the merit of the lese majeste law, outright verbal attacks online, especially those that are unsubstantiated have led to a feeling that the online virtual debating community is degenerating into verbal abuse and uncompromising dogmatism, both from the political left and right. These reckless and vicious contributors end up dissuading others who may otherwise wish to engage in a more cool-headed and rational debate, dialogue and deliberation.
On the other hand, the risk of having the ICT Ministry monitor some political views is a potential hazard for some of the contributors and a damning verdict on the state of Thai democracy.
There's also the issue of digital-divide which restricts this new online public sphere to an arena for mostly the educated middle class and elite. Also, some of the online sites tend to be too specialised and parochial to claim to have a greater concern for society and serve as a public arena.
Does online interaction also serve as a disincentive to people from meeting face-to-face to discuss and act together for a common political cause as some may have felt they have already spent much energy online? There is no easy answer and some would argue otherwise.
Another caveat is the issue of how many people are really engaged in such online political debate. Are there just a handful of regular contributors and how many carefully and open-mindedly read other postings? Can the site and debate qualify as a public sphere if less than a dozen people, mostly using alias, participate? There's no clear answer.
On the other hand, proponents and optimists say this is the most politically open public space to date, and not just for Thailand, as virtual reality knows no boundaries.
Unlike the print media, anyone with an access to the Internet can just type their political view and conviction with minimum or no censorship - though some eventually ended up convicted for violating the lese majeste law.
The arena is also technically open to all. The debating thread interactive and the discussion and debate can go on and on, in real time, and across the continents. People can learn from so many others of diverse background, age and gender, from people whom they may otherwise never meet in life and could deliberate, form a common judgement on particular issues if not eventually meet and act together off-line.
The strength of online political debates and networking may also serve as a new force in countering what is otherwise an overwhelming state power and its control over most of the broadcast media, as well as corporations' pervasive influence over society, advocates say.
In the end, whether one is optimistic or pessimistic, this new virtual sphere of political interaction is here to stay and as it proliferates and grows more thinking is needed on how to make it more public and conducive to the maturing of Thai politics and beyond.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
TOT's FTTx service set for this year
TOT will "definitely" launch a fibre-to-the-x (FTTx) broadband-Internet service in Bangkok, Phuket and Hua Hin this year, a senior executive said yesterday.
Senior executive vice president Sujin Kodsup said TOT was also developing multimedia content for FTTx customers in addition to the broadband connection via direct fibre-optic link.
FTTx - x can represent home, building or premises - involves connecting a customer with a direct fibre-optic link via a service provider, in order to receive voice and data services.
Sujin said the FTTx service would be useless without multimedia content for the customers.
Many content-makers have approached TOT about being a partner in the project, but the company has yet to conclude any deals.
He declined to specify the cost of the project's development.
CAT Telecom is another state agency planning to launch an FTTx service in Bangkok, at a cost of Bt6 billion. The project is expected to yield an investment return rate of 15 per cent and break even in five years and one month.
Meanwhile, TOT yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with property and construction firm Supalai to provide Wi-Fi connections to e-conferencing systems and FTTx services to all of Supalai's projects.
Supalai deputy managing director Atip Bijanonda said such information- and communications-technology (ICT) services would add value to the company's property projects and distinguish them from those of its competitors.
Sujin said the MoU allowed TOT to provide ICT services to all of Supalai's 30 existing house and condominium projects, as well as future ones.
However, it is not an exclusive deal.
TOT has already started providing some ICT services to Supalai at a cost of Bt2 million to Bt3 million per project.
The exact cost per project will depend on the types of services needed.
Sujin said TOT had also approached another major property firm, Land & Houses, about a similar FTTx deal.
Senior executive vice president Sujin Kodsup said TOT was also developing multimedia content for FTTx customers in addition to the broadband connection via direct fibre-optic link.
FTTx - x can represent home, building or premises - involves connecting a customer with a direct fibre-optic link via a service provider, in order to receive voice and data services.
Sujin said the FTTx service would be useless without multimedia content for the customers.
Many content-makers have approached TOT about being a partner in the project, but the company has yet to conclude any deals.
He declined to specify the cost of the project's development.
CAT Telecom is another state agency planning to launch an FTTx service in Bangkok, at a cost of Bt6 billion. The project is expected to yield an investment return rate of 15 per cent and break even in five years and one month.
Meanwhile, TOT yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with property and construction firm Supalai to provide Wi-Fi connections to e-conferencing systems and FTTx services to all of Supalai's projects.
Supalai deputy managing director Atip Bijanonda said such information- and communications-technology (ICT) services would add value to the company's property projects and distinguish them from those of its competitors.
Sujin said the MoU allowed TOT to provide ICT services to all of Supalai's 30 existing house and condominium projects, as well as future ones.
However, it is not an exclusive deal.
TOT has already started providing some ICT services to Supalai at a cost of Bt2 million to Bt3 million per project.
The exact cost per project will depend on the types of services needed.
Sujin said TOT had also approached another major property firm, Land & Houses, about a similar FTTx deal.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)