Experts predict advent of 4G will change society for better

The auctions of two 1,800MHz licences and two 900MHz licences will take place as scheduled on November 11 and December 15, respectively, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has said. 

The advent of 4G is likely to benefit not only the telecommunication industry, but also information and communication technology (ICT). And many observers within the ICT industry are looking forward to the advancements 4G will bring to society as a whole. 

Ariya Banomyong, managing director of LINE Thailand, said the 4G technology is important to Thailand, the people and the economy. Mobile Internet is the future of the Internet. Thailand already has more mobile Internet users (40 million) who are accessing the Internet from their smartphones than desktop users (35 million) accessing the Internet from their computers. 

This has two implications: Thailand is a “mobile-first” country and millions of people are accessing the Internet for the first time, and it is happening on mobiles.

“Not only Thailand, but Asia is a mobile-first region, and this trend will accentuate with the availability of 4G, replacing the traditional Internet access from computers. Think of how much of your life is on your mobile phone today,” said Ariya.

The beauty of 4G technology is that it can cope with consumer demand for speed and bandwidth. Consumer behaviour is changing as consumers are watching TV less on a big TV screen and more on the small smartphone screen. Thailand ranks number one in the world when it comes to watching video online. Based on LINE TV’s consumer behaviour, users watch LINE TV three days a week, and 1.5 hours per day on average. 

“Consumers do not understand “speed” and “bandwidth” and many do not realise the services they use require Internet access. It is up to service providers to understand consumer needs and 4G will help cope with the growth and consume consumption of video content,” Ariya said.

In addition, 4G will facilitate access to information and education because 4G is like building a road, or an expressway. Imagine yourself driving in Bangkok or Chiang Mai and enjoying the benefits of more highway to serve not only traffic in town, but also traffic going out to the provinces. Ariya said 4G is an investment the country needs to make as it will lead to better infrastructure, a better Internet expressway.

“To me, this is the most important reason because it comes down to information and education. Together with cheaper smartphones, 4G will provide equal access to information to everyone. Farmers will be able to check the price of rice, pork, eggs, online instantly. Everything you want to know is on the Internet. We know that education is an area that needs to be improved in Thailand and the Internet could revolutionise education by-passing the current hurdles and barriers,” he said. 

“All it takes is to have more educational content online to allow students and adults to learn anywhere, as long as they have a smartphone and Internet access. That is why 4G is key. Education is the future of our country and mobile Internet will provide access to free and quality education to all,” said Ariya.

And 4G will help businesses because the whole world is online, he said. People cannot do business in this day and age without the Internet. How do they communicate with suppliers from around the world, how do they access and tap into a much larger market, that is the world today? 

“It is important that Thai businesses realise that the Internet breaks all boundaries, and we now have access to consumers from around the world; businesses have the potential for expansion,” said Ariya.

Another interesting angle is that as Thailand offers better infrastructure, it will be able to attract more foreign investments, international tech companies and general talent. These will also benefit Thailand.

 

Increasing competitiveness

Alan Chiang, managing director of Acer Computer, said the coming of 4G would bring many changes to Thailand. He said 4G will give the country competitiveness as information will become the winning factor in the modern world. Those who can retrieve and deliver information faster and wider will be the winner, and 4G is the key factor to increase competitiveness. 

Chiang said 4G also plays role as an accelerator. The country needs to reform to bring change and, since that requires the participation of the general public, 4G can provide an accelerating platform for reform. 

Importantly, 4G will also help bridge the gap in the digital divide. This will be the key to lifting the country in harmony and balance to bring about development between urban and rural, major and minor, 4G will provide a better chance to achieve this goal. 

Eventually, 4G will change people’s lifestyles. People will rely on the Internet more than ever in their daily lives. Security and privacy exposure could be issues as well, Chiang said.

Meanwhile, the 4G/LTE will also benefit people and ICT industries, he said. The Internet of Thing (IoT) and cloud technology will benefit from 4G/LTE and society will enjoy the convenience of managing life in a casual way. The ICT industry also has the potential to develop IoT services through the cloud infrastructure.

“It will also help support Thailand’s efforts to be a regional ICT centre. Since the AEC era is nearly upon us, Thailand can build itself up as the regional ICT centre. It can provide data centres and analysis management service,” Chiang said.

The country will be able to develop its digital economic through corporation between the government and ICT industries, and 4G is just the basic necessity for this dream.

Vatsun Thirapatarapongl, managing director of Cisco in Thailand and Indochina, said 4G will enable faster mobile Internet and cloud access, which should unleash enterprise and consumer potential in innovation. Obstacles in the past where bandwidth did not allow multi-channel media of voice, data, and video will be diminished.

With the faster speed, 4G will give apps developers the freedom to innovate. This will enable more productivity, get workers to be more efficient and productive and improve quality of work, living, play and learning. 

And boundaries of benefits between enterprises and SMEs will be reduced. Sample applications that 4G can allow are pervasive video and rich-media communication, regardless of applications. 

Companies can now really allow work from anywhere, as bandwidth is no longer the bottleneck. Industries like healthcare, construction, manufacturing, and so on, can leverage bigger bandwidth to share real-time data, larger file transfers such as construction blueprints and video-expert support. With better quality bandwidth, new and creative apps can now be enable without compromise.

Meanwhile, Satoshi Mekata, general manager of the sales division of Sony Thai, said 4G capability will help accelerate the growth of the telecommunication infrastructure in Thailand as well as stimulate competition among operators in terms of services to grab more customers as well as facilitate content evolution.