Thai Telecom Unveils Network for ISPs

One of Thailand's two state-owned telecommunications companies will launch a new network on Thursday to serve its Internet leasing business.

by Daniel Lovering
Thailand Correspondent, asia.internet.com
[October 11, 2000]

The Telephone Organization of Thailand (TOT) expects to lease the network to many of Thailand's Internet service providers (ISPs), including KSC Commercial Internet, Freei.net, and Loxley Information Services. The network will provide low-cost connections for dial-up Internet users throughout Thailand. "We simply built an Internet Protocol (IP) network," says Dr. Nopparat Maytsaveekulchai, a senior director at TOT. "With our IP network, we add some value. Our network has wider coverage than other ISPs, and every phone call can be charged the same as a local phone call."

In addition to offering cost-efficient service, the network represents a new option for ISPs in Thailand that have until now been able to gain international gateway access only through the Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT) , Thailand's other state-owned telecom company.

The network will incorporate a leased fiber optic link to Malaysia's Time Telekom and satellite connections via Hutchison Corporation in Hong Kong.

"Now we have our own international gateway connection and for those who want a link, they can provide Internet service automatically to their customers," Nopparat said. Catfight resolved
For several months the two state agencies, TOT and CAT, had been embroiled in a dispute about network leasing rights for ISPs. CAT has controlled the international gateway and required Thailand's private ISPs to turn over 32 percent of their stock in return for access. Two months ago, TOT attempted to sub-lease lines to ISPs for Bt 1 million (US$25,000) per year.

CAT protested the move, which had been hailed by some industry analysts as an effective way of freeing up the tightly regulated Thai Internet market. CAT claimed it had exclusive rights to the ISP market because ISPs required the international gateway.

Now TOT's network will be available for ISPs, lowering dial-up charges for Internet subscribers outside Bangkok. Using the network, subscribers can access Internet service at a flat rate of Bt 3 (US$.07) per connected call, about 80 percent less than average long-distance call rates in Thailand.

Cisco's Hatari
TOT leased the routers for its IP network from Hatari, a subsidiary of Cisco Systems, for Bt 3 billion (US$71.4 million). A TOT representative said the company had set up hubs in 20 of Thailand's 76 provinces and plans to install hubs in the rest of the country's provinces by the end of the year.

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