A research study submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration, School of Management

Research report (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2004

The Thai mobile market has experienced explosive growth in the past two years. Until 2002, the Thai telecom market was a duopoly, controlled by AIS and DTAC. Today, also two new operators (TA Orange and Hutch) backed by international mobile heavyweights are launching their services. Subscribers more than doubled to 18 millions and the penetration rate increased to 28% in 2002 and in 2003 the market also grew fast. As the operators seek to differentiate themselves in highly competitive Thai mobile market where customers are disloyal and truly price sensitive, more attention will be paid to launching new and innovative Value added data and multimedia services, this is where new 3G technology could substantially help. Most of the operators have introduced their GPRS (2,5G) networks allowing better quality and speed for their customers. The next step from GPRS is EDGE (2,75G), which is not yet in commercial use in Thailand. The next step after EDGE is 3G. There are currently no 3G licenses awarded in Thailand and thus the 3G is not yet reality in Thailand. According to GSM Association, it is just a matter of time before Thailand adopts 3G. Thus, this is a perfect time for conducting research dealing with feasibility and challenges of 3G in Thailand, since all the major Thai Telecom operators are currently considering this lucrative alternative. This study therefore tries to find out the feasibility of 3G in Thailand and the key challenges faced Thai Telecom operators while they are moving toward 3G. Furthermore, this study suggests some recommendations mainly for the Thai telecom operators but also to vendors and government how they could overcome those challenges.