AIS Set for Mobile Broadband
By Srisamorn Phoosuphanusorn, Bangkok Post, Thailand
Apr. 10–Advanced Info Service (AIS) next month will introduce broadband internet commercial services over mobile handsets, which will include video calling.
CEO Vikrom Sriprataks said that the services, under the new 3GSM Advance brand, had been developed on top of the market leader’s existing 900 Megahertz frequency via high-speed packet access (HSPA) technology.
AIS had signed an agreement with TOT Plc for the right to upgrade the 900 MHz network to HSPA in order to utilise the network capacity. The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), meanwhile, has allowed TOT to upgrade its 900 MHz network to HSPA.
“These services, the first of their kind in Thailand, are third-generation mobile-phone services but running on the existing frequency platform,” said Mr Vikrom.
The company expects to introduce mobile broadband internet commercial services in Chiang Mai on May 6 and in Bangkok in mid-June.
President Wichian Mektrakarn said AIS needed to introduce HSPA commercial services as it could not wait for new 3G licences from the NTC.
He said AIS had invested 600 million baht to install HSPA equipment in 20 provinces. In Chiang Mai alone, the company built 20 HSPA switching networks
Chief marketing officer Sanchai Teoprasertkul said the HSPA service provided speeds of 7,200 kilobits per second, compared with 160 kilobits from GPRS and Edge technologies.
“Such high-speed capacity enables us to provide high-speed internet, video calls, video clips and streaming, full song downloads and music videos over mobile phones,” he said.
Mr Sanchai said the company would initially introduce HSPA services to postpaid customers, allowing them to shift to 3GSM Advance services and use their same mobile numbers.
AIS would charge customers three baht a minute for video calls and three baht per SMS and six baht per MMS. The company would charge 100 baht a month for data usage of up to 500 megabytes.
“We expect to attract up to 80,000 users by the end of this year,” he said.
Mr Sanchai said the company expected HSPA services to increase its non-voice revenue by 20 percent this year. Data volume would rise by 3-5 percent.
Shares of AIS (ADVANC) closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 99 baht, unchanged, in trade worth 404 million baht.
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