DTAC, Thailand’s second largest mobile operator has announced an ambitious plan to cover each of Thailand’s 940 districts with 3G by the end of 2013. This has been made possible by the network modernization project which will be complete by the end of this year.
Speaking to journalists in Phuket, DTAC CEO Jon Eddy Abdullah explained DTAC is ripping out its legacy 18 year old network, both core and radio. The upgrade uses an Ericsson core and both Ericsson and Huawei radios to speed up the rollout, with both vendors’ teams now working flat-out.
At the core, each legacy switching room used to have around 353 cabinets. With modern equipment means that number goes down to 28, or from 178 square metres to 6.7, or 775 kw to 163 kw, depending which metric one chooses. Radio sites have gone from heavy two cabinet air-conditioned enclosures to modern, lightweight ones that are happy with ambient temperature and can be upgraded to LTE by pushing in and plugging in a new blade.
Abdullah also announced DTAC’s Wi-Fi for the top 50 or 60 shopping centres across the country. The company promises a true mobile experience rather than the customary nomadic nature of first generation Wi-Fi hotspots. Using Juniper hardware for both core and radio, it will launch commercially in March this year.
Abdullah also said he expects the regulator to grant an LTE trial licence in the near future and expects to launch a trial network by April or May. He also noted that it would be a brief trial as LTE is a mature technology.
Abdullah ruled out launching a commercial LTE network under the current concession terms as the 30 percent revenue share destroys any business case.