2009

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Introduction
3G or 3rd Generation is a standard for mobile telecommunications which al-
lows simultaneous use of speech and data services. 3G network development in Thai-
land has been slow. When compared with other countries, Thailand is still lacking be-
hind in technology development, and now many countries are going to move from
3G to 4G service in the near future. In fact, Thailand is the only ASEAN country left
without proper 3G services.

The purpose of this report is to research the factors that affect the development
of 3G coverage in Thailand and summarize the recommendations and the conclusion
for the problem. This report will cover several topics about 3G service in Thailand in-
cluding: price, availability of service, quality of service, the investment and govern-
ment restriction and competition of existing brands.

The information from this report came from several sources. First, we use the
primary strategy to gather the information by interviewing 40 people which included
students, teachers, business owners and the general public. We interviewed at a num-
ber of locations around Bangkok. Second, we found the secondary data about 3G that
was available in the internet.

Objectives

1.To identify the problems with the 3G service

2.To drive awareness of audiences towards 3G service

3.To research whether the 3G service is worth the cost or not

4.To gain information about what the general public, students, and businesses can do to
improve the 3G coverage

5.To see the purposes of using 3G service

6.To perceive audiences’ satisfaction on 3G service

7.To get audiences’ recommendation about the 3G service coverage

8.To survey causes of 3G service problems

Findings and analysis

MGT 3907 B U S I N E S S C O M M U N I CATI O N 1

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Out of the 40 respondents that were interviewed, the results we found showed
that 27 people have not used the 3G service, while the remaining 13 respondents are
currently using the service, as shown in Figure 1.

The 13 respondents who are using the 3G service claim to be using it for a

number of reasons. The main reason is for entertainment such as watching movies,
and playing online games. The second reason is for social networking with Facebook,
MySpace and other similar networks. The third reasons are for work/business and
sharing information. This is illustrated in the pie chart below.


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In Figure 3 below, we discover that out of the 13 respondents who are current-
ly using the limited 3G service, the majority of them chose to use the provider TRUE
while AIS and DTAC were just a minority.

These service providers charge for the 3G services. We had to determine how
much the respondents spent per month for this service. The pie chart below shows that
most respondents spend roughly between 501 - 800 Baht per month and a few spend
around 300 -500 Baht per month for 3G services.


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The next step was to see where most of the respondents used the 3G service.
This was an open ended question so that the locations could be more specific to see
where the majority of our respondents preferred to use 3G. As depicted in the graph
below, we concluded that most of our respondents used 3G at ABAC Plaza. Next, our
respondents were using 3G at a variety of department stores such as Siam Paragon, or
Central World. And those who were employees were able to use 3G networks at the
office.

To acquire more knowledge of how our respondents felt about the current 3G
services, we needed the opinions on whether the service was satisfactory and whether

it was worth the investment.

From Figure 6 below, we see that most respondents consider the current 3G
service to be moderately good. It is seen as neither terrible nor excellent. Figure 7 il-
lustrates if the respondents believe that the 3G service is worth its cost. Most do agree
that the cost is fair. In fact, because of the high competitiveness of the providers, Thai-
land provides one of the cheapest services in the world.


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So far, the graphs shown above have been about the respondents who are cur-
rently using the 3G service. The following illustration that will be shown below will
refer to those remaining 27 respondents who are currently not using the 3G service.

Figure 8 shows the reasons why the respondents have decided not to use 3G.
Most of the respondents stated that the reason why they had not used 3G was due to
the fact that there was no service available in their area. The second reason was that
some respondents simply had no interest in the service at all. There are people who
are not interested in the 3G service because many can’t afford 3G phones or those
people find no need for 3G since they mainly use text messaging and voice calls to
communicate.

To see whether the respondents would ever consider using 3G in the future,
we asked that “if 3G was available everywhere, would you consider using it then?”

Figure 9 shows that up to 17 respondents would consider using 3G if the service was
available everywhere.


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Next, respondents were questioned about what their purpose of using 3G

would be if they decided to use it at a future date. Most said that they would consider
using 3G because it would be a convenience. Fast data transfer and social networking
would also make respondents consider using 3G as seen in the pie chart below.


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For the respondents who would become potential 3G users, we needed to
know which service provider they could choose. Figure 11 clearly shows that most
potential 3G users would choose AIS and then DTAC as their service providers.

Now, all 40 respondents were asked if they had heard of, or if they’ve ever ex-
perienced a couple of the largest problems with the current 3G service. Figure 12 il-
lustrates that most respondents have heard or experienced unstable connections with
the 3G network.


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Figure 13 shows how many respondents have heard of, or experienced the
problem of limited 3G hotspots. We also see here that the majority of our respondents
have either heard of, or have experienced this noticeable issue.

The next question was regarding what respondents felt was the main reason
why 3G networks aren’t fully available in all of Bangkok and surrounding provinces.
The pie chart below shows that most believe it is the high cost of investment needed
in order to make 3G networks accessible to everyone in Bangkok and surrounding
provinces. It is true that the initial cost of investment for new 3G networks is quite
high. Also, it is known that not many people would use 3G since this society is still
using basic text messaging and voice calling. So, service providers are careful not to
open up 3G everywhere since it might end up being a capital loss for the company
rather than a capital gain.


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The final question we asked respondents was how long they thought it would
take 3G service providers to fully cover Bangkok and surrounding provinces with 3G
networks. Half of the respondents predicted that it would require 2-4
years to have full 3G coverage in Bangkok and sur-
rounding provinces.

How long will it take to
have full 3G coverage?


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Interviews

Mr. Maszimba Z.

Interviewer: Are you currently using 3G network?
Maszimba: Yes, I am using it, but it is not really good.

I: What makes you think of that?
M: It is not very stable and I can use it only in some specific areas.

I: How much do you pay for the service per month?


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M: 950 Baht per month.

I: Do you have any suggestion for the current 3G service?
M: I think right now 3G is quite new in Thailand, so it could be better later on. All
the providers should cover all the areas and make the network more stable.
But, they need to work faster, even my home country of Zimbabwe has good
3G networks all around.

Mr. Koraphot J.

Interviewer: Are you currently using a 3G service ?
Koraphot: Yes, but I rarely ever get to use it.

I: How come?
K: Thailand does not have full 3G coverage yet. There are only some specific
hotspots around Bangkok.

I: If the 3G network is available all around, what would be your reason for
choosing a provider?
K: To me it doesn’t matter which provider I choose, as long as they provide 3G
everywhere.

I: Do you have any suggestion on how to improve the current 3G services?


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K: Yes, please expand the 3G’s signal area for whole country, and that will be
perfect.

Mr. Chayatorn S.

Interviewer: Are you currently using a 3G service?
Chayatorn: No, I am not because it is not yet worth using.

I: Why?
C: Well, the 3G network does not yet cover all of the areas. So, you can use it just
in some prime areas especially in the metropolitan. But, it is useless for rural
areas like Bang Bo.

I: If the 3G network has covered all the areas, what would be your reason for
choosing a provider?
C: First, it must be convenient, and second the service must be at a reasonable
price. Only then will it be worth using.

I: Do you have any suggestion on how to make the current 3G services better?
S: The government should make it cover all the areas as soon as possible, be-
cause we see other countries that have had full 3G coverage for a while now. The
government should focus on the country, not the conflict of interest.


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Mr. Amnuy T.

Interviewer: Are you currently using a 3G service?
Amnuy: No.

I: What is the reason that you ignore using this service?
N: It is not interesting to me, and I do not care too much about technology.

I: If the 3G network has covered all the areas, what would be your reason for
choosing a service provider?
N: The price must be very reasonable.

I: Do you have any suggestion on how to improve the 3G services?
N: It should first cover all areas sufficiently, and it must be good enough for
many people to use efficiently.


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Mr. Tanawat S.

Interviewer: Are you currently using 3G network?
Tanawat: Yes.

I: What is your purpose for using it?
T: Entertainment.

I: Do you think it is worth using the 3G service?
T: Yes, that is why I use it.

I: Do you have any suggestion about the current 3G service?
T: It would be much more comfortable when it has covered all the areas. The
government should settle the problems as quickly as possible.

Summary and Recommendations


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Thailand has been behind its neighboring countries in terms of issuing 3G net-
work licenses. This in turn will cause Thailand to lose out on many opportunities that
come with 3G such as E-books, and health monitoring. Thailand has become the last
remaining country in the ASEAN region that has not provided proper 3G services.
Even Vietnam and Laos have received licenses for 3G.

One of the benefits of a fully functional 3G network would be that it could
help many rural user who have no landlines or even telephones. So with 3G, they
could easily use their mobile phones to access the internet and its contents. Another
benefit is that 3G could help expand the IT industry much further. Software develop-
ers could create newer and better applications that could help consumers with produc-
tivity in life and business. Other benefits include location based services that can en-
hance safety, security, and efficiency. Tracking cars, people, and pets could help out a
lot. 3G services could also help connect more people.

TRUE Corporation was one of the first companies to open up the 3G service
with the introduction of the iPhone 3G. The Communications Authority of Thailand
(CAT) had awarded TRUE with the rights to provide the 3G service. AIS had also re-
leased their own 3G service and DTAC as well, although DTAC had approval prob-
lems beforehand.

One of problems seen with the release of 3G services was how companies like
TRUE and AIS could allocate so much capital into the investment of 3G networks.
Another issue was the fact that these two companies had not been given the official
rights to release any 3G networks at the time. It seems that certain high ranking offi-
cials in both TRUE and the government had something to do with TRUE’s sudden
progress in the 3G networks. Another widely known problem is the auction for the
rights to provide 3G in Thailand. The government’s stubbornness has done nothing
more than leave Thailand’s telecommunications industry lacking behind most other
countries worldwide. Delays in the auction and subpar phone frequencies had left
most small, local service providers with little means to improve.

What needs to be done:


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•Stop delaying 3G license auctions

•Solve any and all conflicts of interest

•The government should provide funds to help with the high cost of investment (Proper
funding will result in more 3G coverage)

•The government and CAT need to look at all the opportunities that can arise from 3G

•Take countries that are less developed than Thailand as an example of how far we can
go if we focus on fixing what needs to be fixed

•Private companies that are providers of 3G need to focus on providing better quality
services to the customers rather than focusing on gaining as much capital as possible.

•Companies need to also stop trying to out-compete with each other. Competition is
good, but at the expense of the customers is not.

•The government and CAT should let foreign investors get the chance to provide 3G.
Some foreign companies have more knowledge and expertise in this field of commnica-
tion.


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How long
will it
take to
have full
3G cov-
erage?

How long will it take to fully cover Bangkok
area

Figure 14

Photos
Photo
1

Photo 2

Photo 3

Photo 4

Photo 5

Photo 6

Photo 7


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Gantt Chart

References

Bangkok Post: http--www.bangkokpost.com-tech-technews-19462-thailand-
falls-behind-with-3g-technology

CNET Asia: http://asia.cnet.com/blogs/technology-thailand/post.htm?
id=63008457


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References
Bangkok Post: http--www.bangkokpost.com-tech-technews-19462-
thailand-falls-behind-with-3g-technology

CNET Asia: http://asia.cnet.com/blogs/technology-thailand/post.htm?
id=63008457


2009

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