Thai Telcos Join With Regulators to Establish “Meaningful Broadband”

(Bangkok July 3)  Some of the nations most powerful telecommunications executives and the regulatory agency, Nation Telecommunications Union (NTC), met yesterday for the first time to formulate a plan for Meaningful Broadband.   The plan calls for interacting with Prime Minister, and a spectrum of Thai ministries to establish the role of broadband in achieving public-policy reforms in the Abhisit government.

The event, held at the Oriental Hotel, was the first meeting of the Meaningful Broadband Working Group, led by Craig Warren Smith, a visiting professor of Chulalongkorn University’s Center for Ethics of Science and Technology.  Sponsored by NTC,  the event released a white paper on Meaningful Broadband.

The report rejects the path to broadband favored by Singapore and other advanced nations which serves affluent citizens who can afford high speed internet.  Instead, it calls for a new “broadband ecosystem” for Thailand, that is focused primarily on the Middle of the Pyramid (MOP), a middle-income group of Thais who make from $2 to $7 dollars per day.  By bringing 28 million of these MOP Thais into subsidized meaningful mobile broadband applicatons,  Smith predicts a “wealth effect” that could bring equity and sustainability to the Thai economy.

Responding to the framework,  Khun Supachai called was one of several members of the group that advocated a follow up study that would prepare for a meeting with Prime Minister Abhsit along with ministers of Finance, Education, ICT and other relevant parties.  “We need to figure out the roles of government, the regulator and the telecomunications operators in establishing broadband that brings optimal benefits to Thailand.”  Supachai, agreed to be host and sponsor of further research in preparation of the next meeting of the Working Group to be held in September.

“Along with painting the big picture of how broadband could serve the nation, we should focus specifically how it can serve education and human resources development,” said Montchai Noosong,  Executive Vice President of TOT.

“Central to the ‘meaningful‘ idea is a new approach to Ethics, said Chulalongkorn University Soraj Hongladarom.  “We want Thailand to develop a way to help users choose broadband applications that will lead them to happiness not addiction,” he said.

For a copy of Meaningful Broadband:  A Manifesto for Thailand, sponsored by NTC, send a request to craigwarrensmith@hotmail.com