Broadband fees 'reasonable'

Business » Telecommunications

INTERNET

Broadband fees 'reasonable'

Published: 7/07/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: Business

True Corporation says it can't cut high-speed internet access prices by 50 per cent as the government has requested because the current price is reasonable and cheaper service would not help to expand the service to rural areas.

Chief executive Supachai Chearavanont was responding to calls by the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) ministry, which wants internet service providers to halve their prices to give more people access.

Mr Supachai said True's broadband internet price was 590 baht a month, adding that if it was compared with those of other operators, it was reasonable because True had invested hugely on internet infrastructure to reach more households.

Halving the price would deprive True of funds for further investment, he said. "Therefore cutting prices is not a solution."

But he said that if the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) could speed up its third generation or 3G licensing and Wi-Max regulations, this would enable private operators to construct wireless networks to allow people to obtain faster services.

Meanwhile, if there were more service providers and more broadband users, prices would come down automatically in line with competition and economies of scale.

He said the government could also contribute support for connection facilities such as supplying low-cost computers that were affordable for people.

He said expensive hardware was currently the main obstacle to broadband service growth.

The ICT ministry has said its call for cheaper services was part of a plan to expand broadband to reach 50% of households countrywide by 2010 and to upgrade Thailand from its current 70th rank in the world for broadband access.

About the author

Writer: KOMSAN TORTERMVASANA

Keep this article in your social bookmark:

Latest stories in this category:

Share your thoughts

For more candid, lengthy, conversational and open discussion between one another, use our Forum

Report objectionable comments click here. Include: discussion #, commenter name, comment date / time as it looks on the page. Example: discussion 15: 09/01/2009 at 10:00 AM.

IT COMMO

Discussion 15 : 09/07/2009 at 01:16 PM15
want speed? try FIBER OPTIC. sure it cost more to build it, but in long run FIBER is cheaper.
david wayne osedach

Discussion 14 : 07/07/2009 at 11:22 PM14
Cheap,affordable broadband is in Thailands long term interest. Lay the infrastructure and the customers will sign up.
Red Capitalist

Discussion 13 : 07/07/2009 at 06:12 PM13
They key word is 'competition'

Since there is no competition at the moment (all providers offering the same 'service' at the same price, presumably using the same infrastructure) both the reliability and the speed are way too low.

End the monopoly of the de facto state owned providers, allow foreign providers in and speed ad reliability will easily double. Happy users don't need a fifty percent discount.

Finally, when I 'upgraded' from 1 Mb to 2 Mb I predicted the speed would be the same - and it was. Today I was offered 3 Mb. Guess what? No, of course I didn't switch to 3 Mb. Instead, I switched back to 1 Mb. After all, it is exactly as slow as 2 Mb.
Thaifrelst.

Discussion 12 : 07/07/2009 at 04:33 PM12
Hello.

I have to say it again and will keep on saying it:

Why just dont do it the same way as countries where the internet works fine. 3G is stone-age in the rest of the world now. Why not go for HSDPA/3GS (super speed) and just drop the old 3G before it dont exist anymore.

There are dozens of ways to provide internet to permanent homes and condos. Just choose some and make competitions between the companies.

3G is for people using internet in the car or out on the field.
Sunny

Discussion 11 : 07/07/2009 at 01:21 PM11
Don't half the prices...just double the speed for that price n you will win a lot more clients....
Preecha

Discussion 10 : 07/07/2009 at 12:49 PM10
@Charlie

True does not have a monopoly. Make some sense please. There is TOT, CAT, Loxinfo, KSC, Jasmin and a bunch of others.

If you're thinking about monopolies, think about TOT and CAT. Its the problems with those that prevent the rest of Thailand to have decent internet access.

It should be the same as in Europe. Instead of each provider having to build their own network (wireless or fixed lines), put up a regulator and have them co-invest and pay for what they use.

This way you will only need one set of cables to be put in in every city instead of one for tot, one for true, one for another....

It makes much more sense, is greener and saves a lot of money. On the other hands all that money that is saved, can be spent on good services and customer support.
JP Goldman

Discussion 9 : 07/07/2009 at 11:54 AM9
I completely agree with the CEO of True Internet.

Internet prices in Thailand are already very competitive. If you want to bash somebody, bash the ICT ministry which truly deserves it.

If all it can think of is monitoring and censoring the internet and having ISP's cut prices in half (where did she even get the number?) to expand the itnernet base then she deserves to be transferred out of her office IMMEDIATELY.

This ICT ministry farce has been going on for much too long. How much longer can she hamper the economy of what is an industry that can truly help Thailand overcome the financial crisis? It's easy to try and blame others when you have no vision yourself.

What about making 3G happen, talking to ancient dinosaurs like TOT and CAT about having a decent and friendly customer service, providing decent services in the first place?

You don't do that by knitting a new pullover in your office instead of meeting up with them. It's time for some real change so the ICT ministry can actually perform. It is s big disgrace how it is run now and a slap in the face to every earnest investor and manager here in Thailand to see the inefficiency of the current office.

Bring on 3G and Wimax so the problem of 'the last mile' can be overcome and there will be more competition, lower prices and more internet penetration in remote areas where it's hard or expensive to put in fixed lines.

Or in laywomen's terms... You don't cure more people by halving the prices of medicines and only having a handful of hospitals, ... you do it by making sure that there are places where people can get the medicines in the first place, no matter where they are....

Even a toddler can understand this. In short. It's time for a cabinet reshuffle. One that has been long awaited. Time for the ICT minister to pack up be replaced by someone capable of the job and not a mere proxy.

After all, 20% of a 0 pound cake to be cut, is still 0!
mike

Discussion 8 : 07/07/2009 at 10:56 AM8
True is right though. Thailand still does not have the technological infrastructure to support a strong stable web experience.
I believe, they need to open up more support for mobile internet as well as for normal internet. A strong infrastructure needs to be set up. Cutting costs down by 50% alone will only kill a company. By allowing commodities to be access at higher speeds, the price will become more competitive naturally.
Brian

Discussion 7 : 07/07/2009 at 10:30 AM7
My first question is: What Broadband?

I just returned from Europe where my laptop was smoking, the connection was so fast. What a delite it was to suddenly download large imagie files in an instant, and play streaming video, without the intermittent long waits every few seconds, one encounters here on True's (and other's) so-called broadband service.

Until the ISPs in Thailand start providing cable broadband (integrated with cable TV would be even better) the same as one encounters in the developed world, they have no business calling their service broadband.
Mark

Discussion 6 : 07/07/2009 at 10:05 AM6
I'm not sure I understand the mechanics of how True operate in a virtual government monopoly. TOT and CAT appear to me to be very much like British Telecom was twenty years ago in the UK, forcing high prices and very poor services onto the consumer.

I don't think the True broadband charge is itself excessive - however the service quality is incredibly poor. Broadband in Thailand is often slower than a dial-up by telephone. This should be embarrassing to the provider and the government (especially when compared to the rest of SE Asia) but for some reason it isn't.

It appears, as usual, that the government, via the ICT ministry, is sidestepping the issue.

1 2 Next Last

Broadband fees 'reasonable'