Thai Operator Launches EV-DO Rev. A Upgrade

The CDMA Development Group (CDG) has congratulated CAT Telecom on launching its 3G CDMA2000 service nationwide to 51 provinces in Thailand. With the expansion of 3G CDMA services, CAT Telecom expects to attract 100,000 3G customers this year.

"Southeast Asia continues to be a strong growth area for CDMA, and weÃ're pleased to see CAT Telecom expand its 3G CDMA2000 offerings throughout Thailand," said Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDG. "CDMA2000 offers operators a significant time-to-market advantage for 3G services, including high-performance voice, multimedia and broadband data services for both consumer and enterprise customers."

CAT Telecom has upgraded its CDMA2000 network to EV-DO Rev. A, which has an initial capacity to serve up to 500,000 data users.

"We are very excited to be the first Thai operator to offer advanced 3G services and extend the technologyÃ's tremendous value to our subscribers nationwide," said Mr. Jirayut Rungsrithong, Senior Executive Vice President of CAT Telecom. "Our customers are now able to take full advantage of CDMA2000Ã's superior capacity, speed and efficiency, which translates into cost savings, excellent coverage and a high quality of service for both voice and broadband data."

The country's largest operator, AIS has launched a 3G network by reusing its existing GSM900 spectrum - but its coverage is very limited and the operator is waiting for the regulator to release licenses in the more conventional 2.1Ghz spectrum before rolling out the network.

The regulator, the NTC expects to launch tenders for both 3G and WiMAX licenses around August this year.

Posted to the site on 1st July 2008