AIS launches high-speed broadband on fixed line
ADVANCED Info Service (AIS) yesterday officially launched its AIS Fibre fixed-line broadband Internet service, including Internet protocol television (IPTV), aiming for around 100,000 subscribers before the end of the year.
It aims to break even on the project within three years at a million users, said Saran Phaloprakarn, head of fixed-broadband business at AIS.
The company has invested about Bt1 billion on developing this service out of a total budget of Bt4.7 billion for the project.
The service offers a maximum connection speed of 1 gigabit per second.
Saran said AIS could become one of the leading fixed-line broadband providers within five years. The existing leaders now are TOT, True Corp and Triple T Broadband.
Initially, AIS Fibre will be available in seven provinces: Bangkok Metropolitan Region, Chiang Mai, Nakhon Ratchasima, Udon Thani, Khon Kaen, Phuket and in Songkhla’s Hat Yai. It will potentially reach 130,000 homes, 500 villages and 700 buildings.
Hui Weng Cheong, AIS chief operating officer, said the launch of AIS Fibre was in line with the AIS vision to become the leading “digital life service provider” by 2018, providing digital services for people in all aspects.
He said that already this year, AIS had made substantial improvements to its mobile and fixed-line infrastructure, including continuous expansion and better quality of its third-generation network. Meanwhile, it is preparing to bid for 4G-compatible bandwidth at the next spectrum auction.
New digital services
As well, AIS Wi-Fi has been upgraded to “Super Wi-Fi” with a maximum speed of 650 megabits per second, along with the launch of various new digital services.
“For example, we have cooperated with CIMB Thai Bank in recently launching ‘Beat Banking’ to enable all mobile phones to be digital banks. More recently, we have launched the innovative ‘iSWOP’ service to give subscribers the power to swap their voice-Internet quota on their own via their phones in real time,” he said.
