FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Changing global landscape of mobile usage that Thai providers should be mindful of

Changing global landscape of mobile usage that Thai providers should be mindful of

In our world today, it is normal to be absorbed and occupied by your own mobile devices. It is no exaggeration to say that the mobile device has become a vital organ for us to go on living.

Seeing how we have adapted ourselves to be very dependent on the Internet and mobiles, many new and inevitable changes are shaping how we function, especially from big-name players such as Google, Facebook and Apple.
All of these players have been talking about one particular ideal, where the Internet is now a human right and the power should be within consumers’ grasp to choose how, when, and whose Internet to use from now on. Let’s take a look at their takes on the ideal and how it will affect Thai Internet providers and the landscape here in Thailand.
This month, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook along with other big-name billionaire philanthropists called for world leaders to recognise the Internet as a must-have human right and that everyone on Earth should have Internet access by 2020.
Apart from calling for the support of the world’s governments, many of these philanthropists are also taking the initiative on their own to make global Internet penetration a reality.
For example, Facebook is teaming up with various partners to launch a satellite-powered Internet as well as solar-powered drones with Internet hot-spot capability to many remote areas around the world.
Similarly, Google ventured into this ideal a few years back with its Google Fiber service, which provides high-speed Internet at selected locations in the United States. The latest action from Google is through its Project Link, where fibre-optic lines are laid across prominent nations in East and West Africa.
However, a fibre-optic Internet is not the final destination of this movement. As mobile penetration is the fastest way to spread the Internet around the world, Google is moving towards making smartphones its new core forte.
In Thailand, the number of smartphones has grown exponentially during the past few years. IPG Mediabrands’ “Wave Study” was able to track that smartphone ownership in Thailand jumped from 43 per cent in 2012 to 87 per cent this year.
This drive to mobile has spawned a new initiative from Google called Project Fi. The essence of this project is simply for mobile users to have the best experience when it comes to using data and the Internet by enabling users to switch automatically to the best network within the area where they happen to be.
If this project is launched in Thailand, imagine the scenario where you could be using third-generation service on the Advanced Info Service network as your main provider, but when you are in a certain area, a TrueMove or Total Access Communication (DTAC) signal was better than AIS, you would be automatically switched, with no additional charge to your mobile plan.
To make that happen, Google will act as a middleman between consumers and multiple mobile carriers in ensuring the best experience for users, while the cost will be determined by Google and paid to individual mobile networks separately.
This year, Google will be equipping its latest smart devices with this automatic switching ability.
Apple is following suit with this network-freedom concept, as its latest iPad line-ups will be preinstalled with multi-network SIM cards so consumers can use the best signal available.
This initiative is something to be mindful of from the provider’s perspective. This model is showing that mobile-device owners will now have more power to negotiate with mobile carriers.
Even the US, dominant mobile providers such as AT&T and Verizon are starting to open up for negotiation on this switchable-network initiative, clearly showing how powerful device owners are becoming.
Seeing how promising this model is, Thai providers may be able to benefit if there are better alliances among the leading providers for the sake of consumers and their data experience instead of waiting for carriers to come in and intervene. Only together can we win consumers over before someone else does it.

Maas Virajoti, the suthor, is group head for strategy and innovation, IPG Mediabrands Thailand.

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