3G expected to herald new era
Experts say that all sectors will benefit from the upgradation
The fate of Thailand's attempt to enter the 3G era rests with the Administrative Court, which has to rule on petitions seeking an injunction against the upcoming auction. Stakeholders in the business and education sectors are welcoming the possible availability of 3G in Thailand and see a bright future ahead.
Software industry
Mobile Technology for Thailand (MT2) chairman Supot Tiarawut said 3G network, which has been long overdue, will enhance the quality of voice call, especially the stability of Internet connections.
Moreover, 3G network will help Thai people access the Internet throughout the country under the universal service obligation (USO), which refers to the practice of providing a basic level of services to every resident of a country, with the availability of quality services at reasonable and affordable rates.
"With the 3G network, the business sector can access information and can communicate at high speed through wireless connection, which would add to their competitiveness. For example, manufacturers can communicate with their customers or suppliers via video-conference without having to travel to a meeting. It can save cost and time in doing business while increasing productivity. We have lost many opportunities due to the long delay in the launch of a 3G network in Thailand," said Supot.
He added that the availability of the 3G network would help drive the growth of e-commerce and mobile applications as they can always stay connected with the network to do online transactions. Finally, 3G network will drive the machine-to-machine (M2M) scenario as 3G network will enable mobile devices to always stay connected and communicate back to the network.
However, it is important that the NTBC regulate three issues: ensure that operators expand the rollout of the 3G network throughout the country; regulate operators to provide 3G service at a reasonable and affordable price; regulate operators to do marketing with fairness as usual.
"It is possible to see a price reduction in 3G service as operators want to migrate their 2G customers to use 3G. They might make 3G service cheaper than 2G service," said Supot.
Software Park Thailand's director, Thanachart Numnonda, said that the IT and software industry will be directly benefited once 3G technology became available in Thailand. The growth areas driven by 3G technology include digital content, game, software for mobile, e-commerce, and mobile commerce.
"Mobile and cloud computing are the two key areas that will see a boom after the availability of 3G technology in Thailand," said Thanachart.
Boom in business
Supachai Parchariyanon, managing director at MCFIVA, said the biggest benefit of the 3G network is it will allow all Thai people to have an equal ability to access information and knowledge over the air anywhere and at any time. It will lead the ICT and software industry to move ahead. It will open opportunities for ICT and software business, especially multimedia, entertainment, advertising and telemedicine areas. It will also help boost the growth of cloud computing.
"These benefits will no longer be confined to only those living in the city. People throughout the country will be able to connect to the Internet wireless, instantly, and quickly to access information they need from wherever they are. This will help bridge the gap in education. But the government should prepare a plan to implement 4G or the LTE network in the future as well, in order to keep the country competitive and keep pace with the other countries," said Supachai.
Apichai Ruangsiripiyakul, managing director at Think Technology, a software company in Khon Kaen, said that 3G would benefit digital content. The advent of 3G at 2.1 gigahertz will provide faster speed and more stability of connection. This will drive the growth of the digital-content industry.
"Business nowadays relies on technologies and the communication network. With 3G, businesses can remain competitive as it allows the businesses to stay connected and have the ability to access information in many formats anywhere, anytime at high speed. As a developing country, not only the business sector, but even areas such as education and healthcare will benefit," said Apichai.
Apisilp Trunganont, product development manager at Internet Marketing Co, operator of Pantip.com, said the 3G network gives Internet users the ability to stay connected always. It implies that people will spend a lot more time online on the website on mobile devices, therefore offering opportunities to Internet-related businesses.
Somkiat Chinthammit, the chief executive officer of Wealth Management System, a major software company in Thailand, said that 3G will greatly benefit the digital-content industry such as games software, TV and entertainment, including music and movies, software as a services (SaaS) in many aspects such as application service provider (ASP), service bureau by software-based, healthcare industry such as distance doctors and robot doctors.
"All in all, all sectors will benefit. There will be better quality of life, from healthcare to entertainment and education, easier connection of family, on/off shore, embedded system via higher remote performance network," said Somkiat.
Patai Padungtin, Principal Evangelist at tech start-up company Builk Asia, said that 3G will directly benefit the ICT and software industry. It will also open business opportunities for the content industry as more high-speed wireless network will be available, meaning more usage and more consumption of content and services on mobile devices.
"Mobile advertising will be the next hottest area because of 3G," said Patai.
Innovated education
Khon Kaen University's vice president for Academic and Information Technology Denpong Soodphakdee said that 3G would not affect the education sector in the short term. But 3G will be able to bridge the gap in learning opportunities for students in remote areas.
"NBTC will have to regulate the operators to implement the 3G network throughout the country in order to give access to people and students in the provinces," said Depong.
Sakulsri Srisaracam, a lecturer at the Faculty of Communication Arts, Dhurakij Pundit University, said that the 3G network will help the education sector as it will make connection of learners with learning easier and more comfortable, and it also allows students to be able to access a lot more sources of knowledge over the Internet at any time and wherever they are. It helps students to always learn both inside and outside the classroom.
"With the 3G network, we will see an education everywhere at any time scenario. Lecturers and students will be always connected. They can download content, textbooks, and learning applications easily onto their mobile devices. They also can interact and keep in touch with the teachers," said Sakulsri.
However, 3G network will be useless if the network does not cover the whole country and if service fee for using the 3G network is not affordable for students. Importantly, not only 3G network, learning innovation also requires creative design and development of the learning models and formats.
"If lecturers can develop innovative learning, which encourages and engages students to stay connected with learning via mobile devices, the 3G network will prove very beneficial," said Sakulsri.
Mana Treelayapewat, deputy dean of Mass Communication Faculty at University of Thai Chamber of Commerce, said that 3G network availability will be good for education as it would help improve online learning with greater speed, especially if 3G network can reach the whole country. It will help bridge the gap in education of urban and rural students.
"3G is only one factor for improving the education system in Thailand. However, the teachers need to understand how to apply this technology to the learning system as well," said Mana.
Assistant Professor Warat Karuchit, director of Master of Communication Arts Programme at Sripatum University, said that 3G will encourage e-learning and distance learning as 3G technology will help improve the quality of video streaming.
"It will encourage a lot more long-distance learning, giving opportunities in education for students in remote areas. They will have an equal chance to access education resources through the Internet," said Warat.
He added that for students and researchers, the availability of 3G technology will also help facilitate their search for textbooks, research, and sources of knowledge easier.
"3G also will benefit the economy as a whole, including job creation, e-commerce, online business, social media, online TV, and online radio. But the areas of concern are digital divide and increase in online crime due to the increase in wireless Internet connections," said Warat.
SMEs directly benefit from 3G
Siwat Chawareewong, chief executive officer of M Interaction, a leading digital agency based in Thailand that services both local and international clients, said that the availability of the 3G network will encourage existing mobile Internet users to increase their usage, and will create new mobile Internet users.
IT and software industry will be the first areas to enjoy the benefits of the 3G network, especially mobile software and content development. Since the availability of the 3G network will lead to more usage of mobile Internet, there will be need for a lot more applications, software, and content.
"The IT and software industry themselves will benefit directly from the 3G network. More opportunities are out there. On the other hands, SMEs as a whole, will be another group to benefit from 3G technology," said Siwat.
He added that e-commerce is one area that will surely benefit from 3G, and it will encourage the micropayment system in Thailand.
Oweera Chearanaipanit, Senior SME Partner Development Specialist at Kbank, said that once 3G network is available at an affordable price, it would directly benefit small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in two areas -SMEs in Internet-related businesses such as Web development, application development, and online solution as they will have more business opportunities, while other SMEs can adopt high-speed wireless Internet connection to enhance their business efficiency.
"Therefore, 3G network will benefit Thai SMEs as the whole," said Oweera.
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