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New ISP to offer free WiFi in Hua Hin(Bangkok Post (Thailand) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Feb. 25--HUA HIN -- Wide Access Co, an internet service provider startup, is introducing Thailand's first free city-wide internet access in Hua Hin under a five-year investment plan of 75 million baht. The company plans to spend an additional 75 million baht to offer free WiFi access in another five nearby provinces by the end of this year. Founder and CEO Sunti Medhavikul said the project was initially aimed at providing free internet community service for education and tourism at a speed of 100 kilobits per second (kbps). Wide Access is a joint venture between Benchachinda Co, a company founded by the Bencharongkul family, and Sunti Medhavikul, a former executive of the mobile operator DTAC. Founded in mid-2008, the company has registered capital of five million baht. The Bencharongkul family, the founding family of DTAC, holds a 20 percent stake in the company. Wide Access was granted a Type 1 licence (for operators without their own networks) to provide internet access service from the National Telecommunications Commission. Mr Sunti said Hua Hin residents and tourists could now experience internet access at the speed of 100 kbps for free with built-in privacy protection. "We would offer premium fee-based services such as wireless voice over IP and video streamng at a higher speed of up to 1 Mbps by August," he said. The open wireless network will offer broadband to all Hua Hin residents and tourists, covering the area of one square kilometre, to be expanded to eight square kilometres over the next three months. Spanning 86 sq km, Hua Hin has a population of 100,000, 40,000 of whom live within the eight square kilometres of the targeted network coverage. Approximatley 1.2 million foreign tourists visit Hua Hin annually, generating eight billion baht of revenue to the local people. With the service, Mr Sunti said, users can access the internet from their WiFi-enabled computers or PDAs in most part of the resort city. After registering, they can browse for 60 minutes at a time after which they need to log on again. The network will also be capable of supporting a broad range of applications for residential, small business and commercial users. Mr Sunti said he chose to launch the network in Hua Hin because it was a well-known tourist destination where people had high purchasing power. Vichai Bencharongkul, president of Benchachinda Co, said the joint investment would add value to Benchachinda's existing rental leased line business and expand broadband internet access into the retail customer segment He said the penetration of Thailand's broadband internet was still low, at only 2 percent, or 7 percent of total households. 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 [email protected], 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. |