|
ISPs chided over slow broadband
Oct 27, 2009 (Bangkok Post - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
The Thai Webmaster Association (TWA) is encouraging internet service providers to ramp up speeds and lower service rates after tests showed that their broadband speeds were lower than what they advertised.
"Broadband speed was just 80 percent of what they claimed in advertisements," said Pol Col Yanapol Yangyuen, the association's president.
He said the result was based on tests done by the TWA and the Thai Telecommunications Consumer Protection Institute (TCI) via http://www.speedtest.or.th from Aug 24 to Oct 25.
For example, he said, if a user subscribed to a service claiming a 10 Mbps rate, the actual speed was just 8 Mbps.
He said that 846,737 broadband users participated throughout the two-month test. While download speeds were 20 percent lower than claimed, upload speeds were far lower.
Among all ISPs, Samart Corp offered the best services with both download and upload speeds almost the same.
For True Corporation, he said, download speed averaged 8 Mbps while upload speed was just 1 Mbps.
Triple T Broadband which provides the Max-net service, delivered 78 percent of advertised download speed, Internet Solution and Service Provider 70 percent, CS Loxinfo 69 percent, TOT 68 percent, I-Net 64 percent and CAT Telecom 51 percent.
Pol Col Yanapol also said that each ISP needed to improve service quality, and in particular to narrow the gap between download and upload speeds.
He said the tests would continue until the end of November to give the association a better idea of the problems users faced. He expected participants in the test would reach 2 million.
Dr Prawit Leesatapornwongsa, a TCI director, said if speed was an ISP's selling point, then it should live up to its advertising claims. If they could not meet that goal, they should lower their monthly service fees to avoid exploiting consumers.
Anand Kaewruamwong, managing director of CS Loxinfo, said it was possible tests showed poorer speeds than advertised because of technical and sharing factors.
An internet user could expect far different speeds at different times of day, just the same as a motorist using the expressway during rush hours and non-rush hours, he said.
The TCI, as part of the National Telecommunications Commission, should come up with regulations to cover ISPs' advertising claims, he said.
To see more of the Bangkok Post, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.bangkokpost.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Bangkok Post, Thailand
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email
tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax
to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave.,
Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
|
TMCnet LOGIN
Webinars
