DTAC bids to lead broadband market

Nation (16 November 2007)

Brekke urges NTC to promote 3G wireless technology.

Total Access Com-munication (DTAC) is hopeful of taking the lead in the mobile-phone broadband business in the long term.

CEO Sigve Brekke said early this week the company's short-term focus was to drive the mobile-phone penetration rate to 100 per cent before the No-2 cellular operator concentrated on broadband.

Of the 40 million or more mobile-phone subscribers in the country, more than 15 million belong to DTAC.

Brekke has urged the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to join with all private telecom operators to promote third-generation (3G) broadband wireless technology on a trial basis.

"You should get it out in the market, to build up public demand," he said on the sidelines of the GSMA Mobile Asia Congress held here this week.

With DTAC's core business in the wireless arena, Brekke believes explosive broadband Internet access demand relies on wireless technologies - from 3G to Wi-Max - rather than fixed-line connectivity.

DTAC has 3.5 million active subscribers connecting to the Internet via their mobile devices.

DTAC has assigned its former chief customer officer Sunti Medhavikul to set up a company to explore the opportunity to offer a wide range of wireless and fixed-line broadband services and to apply for licences from the NTC.

The company is expected to be up and running in the first half of next year.

The company also has a plan to provide financial support and knowledge to any local Internet company intending to promote web-based local content.

True and state-run TOT dominate the fixed-line broadband Internet market with about 600,000 and 200,000 subscribers, respectively.

While the NTC has mentioned many times its plan to finish drafting the 3G frequency licensing terms this year, it is uncertain if it can award the new spectrum licences as planned.

The new Constitution calls for a new regulator, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, but the process to set it up will take time.

This has prompted DTAC to consider another route to enter the 3G era by upgrading its network to offer 3G services on its existing 1,800-megahertz band.

"Ideally, we need the new spectrum for 3G. If impossible, we'll take another route," Brekke said.
DTAC is part of the GSM Association (GSMA), which together with Microsoft revealed the results of a study into mobile broadband computing at the GSMA Mobile Asia Congress. It found huge untapped demand for notebook computers with built-in mobile broadband capability.

The research was commissioned by the GSMA, which represents over 700 GSM cellular operators in 218 countries, and Microsoft.

It was undertaken by Pyramid Research early this year, involving over 12,000 consumer interviews across 13 countries.

Brekke said in Thailand, the survey was conducted on 1,400 target customers and found high demand for mobile broadband notebooks priced from US$500 to $1,000 (Bt17,400 to Bt33,900).