State telecom enterprise TOT Plc plans to commercially roll out an affordable fixed wireless residential broadband service in the Bangkok metropolitan area in December.
The service, running on the 2300-megahertz spectrum network, will have an unlimited data plan at 299 baht per month with maximum download speeds of 10 megabits per second (Mbps), TOT said.
"Target customers are internet users living in suburban areas of Bangkok, especially condominiums, with no internet access," said Rungsun Channarukul, TOT's senior executive vice-president for wireless business.
Fixed wireless broadband is high-speed internet that is connected through radio signals instead of cables.
Mr Rungsun said customers can enjoy wireless broadband internet access wherever they go via a connecting device called TOT 4G hotspot.
In April TOT signed a partnership agreement with Total Access Communication, through subsidiary DTAC TriNet Co, to jointly provide 4G wireless service on the state telecom enterprise's 2300MHz network.
In a deal running until 2025, DTAC TriNet agreed to lease the state's telecom equipment and use domestic mobile roaming to launch a 4G LTD-TDD network on 60MHz bandwidth on TOT's 2300MHz spectrum.
DTAC TriNet is committed to install over 20,000 4G base stations nationwide, covering 80% of the population. The company pays TOT 4.51 billion baht a year in exchange for using 60% of TOT's network capacity.
TOT will rent equipment from DTAC TriNet and provide its own 4G service from the other 40% of the network capacity.
DTAC is accelerating network roll-out, targeting 4,000 base stations for 4G service covering 37 provinces by year-end. It aims for nationwide coverage by 2019.
In January, TOT entered a partnership deal with mobile leader Advanced Info Service (AIS) to provide 3G service on TOT's 2100MHz spectrum.
TOT and AIS have been providing mobile service on the band on a trial basis since July 2016, as the two parties had to wait for approval from the Office of the Attorney-General.
During the trial, the deal generated TOT almost 10 billion baht annually in revenue through three agreements: 3.6 billion for rental of telecom towers, paid by AIS; 3.9 billion from TOT's 2100MHz spectrum usage; and 2 billion from TOT's 2G equipment rental fees.
Mr Rungsun said TOT plans to integrate the 2100- and 2300MHz bands to optimise wireless broadband service through a single SIM card soon.
"The precise timeline might be in the third quarter of 2019, when the two networks become more competitive," he said. "TOT plans to spend 50 million baht per year to upgrade its back office system to support greater advanced network performance."
TOT has 619,700 mobile subscribers, of which 580,000 subscribe via mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs). TOT targets the number of its mobile subscribers reaching 700,000 by the end of 2018.
A MVNO is a mobile operator that lacks its own cellular network, instead renting a network from others to provide service.
TOT booked operational revenue from January to August this year of 8 billion baht. Net profit was 500 million baht, Mr Rungsun said.
TOT earns 375 million baht a month from the partnership with DTAC on the 2300MHz service, plus another 325 million a month from AIS on the 2100MHz partnership