DTAC kicks off its 'Internet for all' project

The initiative is part of DTAC’s goal to provide high-quality third-generation Internet access to all Thais within the next three years.

“Under the ‘Internet for All’ vision, we have a clear goal that all Thais will have Internet access within three years,” DTAC chief executive officer Jon Eddy Abdullah said. “This is to bring a better quality of life and increase the overall competitiveness of the country. 

“As for the education sector, DTAC believes that our 3G network, with the most frequency bands and widest bandwidth, will extend Internet access to schools in remote areas, as well as improve the Internet connection speed. This mission will cultivate life-long learning for our children, which will lead a major turning point in future teaching and learning development.”

According to data from the 2013 World Economic Forum report, Thailand’s mobile Internet penetration is still very low, ranking 131st out of 150 countries. There are currently about 26.5 million Internet users in Thailand, or 30 per cent of the total population, suggesting that a lot of people still don’t have access to the Internet – especially in rural areas. While Thailand’s fixed-line Internet penetration is as low as 10 per cent in some areas, mobile-phone penetration is 136 per cent, which means the mobile network presents a great opportunity to increase overall Internet penetration. 

DTAC officially launched the Internet for All project on September 26, providing schools with 600 sets of air cards and SIM cards with up to 5 gigabytes per month, or 1 million hours worth of free Internet access. Each school will receive at least three sets of devices. 

DTAC plans to increase this number over the next three years in more than 2,000 rural schools, with more than a million schoolchildren. 

It has partnered with the Bureau of Technology for Teaching and Learning, Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec), to select the 200 schools. The project plans to provide 3G Internet access to the first 86 schools before the end of this year as part of the celebrations of His Majesty King’s 86th Birthday.

 

‘Digital Responsibility’ 

To promote the effective and safe use of the Internet, DTAC has also recently launched the “Digital Responsibility” project. As part of the “Do Good Deeds Every Day” initiative, a team of DTAC volunteer will visit schools and provide basic computer and Internet training, as well as training on how to use the Internet in a learning capacity and how to reduce risks and use the Internet safely. 

Under the Internet for All programme, DTAC, in a collaborative effort with the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, also plans to launch the ICT Free Wi-Fi by DTAC service, providing free Wi-Fi to 12 state hospitals. Once the service is available, patients, families, doctors and staff will have Wi-Fi access to the Internet at no cost. 

It is estimated that up to 33,000 people use a hospital each day on average, meaning that as many as 400,000 people could benefit from the free Wi-Fi project.