Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome
(left) and Charoen Limkangwanmongkol (right) sign a contract for free WiFi
in Pattaya.
Phasakorn Channgam
True Corp. will soon begin offering free wireless Internet access in
Pattaya that will cover 80 percent of the city by 2015.
Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome and True Internet Chief Commercial Officer Charoen
Limkangwanmongkol signed the agreement at Pattaya City Hall Sept. 18. The
100 million baht Pattaya expansion of True’s existing paid WiFi hotspot
network eventually will offer 1,000 access points from Jomtien Beach to
Naklua.
City officials estimate 1.4 million people currently use public WiFi, both
paid and free. CAT Telecom built a fiber optic network for Pattaya and TOT
currently provides WiFi along the city’s beaches at a speed of 256 kilobits
per second.
The True service will run eight times faster, offering theoretical top
speeds of 2 megabits per second. Users will be allowed to use a maximum five
hours a month. Thus, the service is aimed mostly at tourists, who average
about 30 minutes of Internet use a day for their several days in the city.
True operates the largest WiFi network in Thailand, holding 60 percent of
the market for public hotspots. The Pattaya network is part of a 1 billion
baht expansion in Chonburi. City hall will pay 10 million baht for the
service, with True subsidizing the rest.
Users must register for the free Pattaya WiFi and must renew every three
months. Thais must use their identification card while foreigners will
register with their passport using a link on the @TrueWifi network login
page.
