VoIP in Thailand and SEA

1
VoIP in Thailand and SEA

• Dr. Donyaprueth Krairit (donya_at_ait.ac.th)
• Assistant Professor
• School of Management
• Asian Institute of Technology (AIT)
• Pathumthani, THAILAND

2
Agenda

• VoIP Potentials
• Why is VoIP an important issue ?
• Thailand VoIP Situation Environment
• Regulatory Policies
• Business
• QoS issue
• Future directions
• Other SEA Countries

3
VoIP Potentials

• Savings on long-distance calls
• Bypass monopoly providers of telecom services
• Lack of regulatory hurdles
• Internet is the IP-based networks.
• Technically, low entry barriers.
• Help in the concept of universal service??

4
Why is VoIP an important issue?

• Technically, a voice transmission in data
  packets.
• What regulations/policies to use to govern this
  new form of transmission?
• Regulate as voice communication
• Regulate as data communication
• What is voice communication, anyway?
• Is voice communication a basic service?

5
Telecom Providers in Thailand

• TOT Corporation (formerly, the Telephone
  Organization of Thailand)
• Domestic voice communications
• CAT Corporation (formerly, the Communication
  Authority of Thailand)
• International voice communications
• Data communications

6
Regulatory Framework

• TOT and CAT are both operators and regulators.
• They give concessions based on the BTO scheme to
  winning bidders on selected services.
• The concessions could be of the same kind due to
  overlapping roles and authority.

7
Competition Domestic Calls

• Domestic long-distance calls
• Cellular BTO providers receiving the concessions
  from both TOT and CAT offer competitive rates.
• Only VoIP service will enable TOT to compete with
  the concessionaires.
• Y-TEL1234 is already in service and doing well.

8
Competition International Calls

• Completely monopolized by CAT with no competition
  from BTO operators.
• However, CAT is still suffered from international
  call back services, e-mail, and other
  Internet-based services.
• CAT therefore decided to go with VoIP for
  international long-distance services. The
  service is called e-Phone, flat-rate priced at
  about 50 lower than traditional calls.

9
Competition Internet Service

• Under the monopoly domain of the CAT.
• 18 ISP concessionaires
• Different from other BTO concessions because they
  are based on a profit-sharing scheme, and not
  revenue-sharing scheme.
• Result Highest Internet service in the SEA
  region.

10
Specific Policies on VoIP

• VoIP is prohibited.
• All Internet traffic have to go through CAT
  international gateways.
• Violators are threatened to have their
  concessions withdrawn.

11
QoS of VoIP in Thailand

• No QoS enforced both in terms of latency and
  accessibility.
• TOT VoIP domestic service claims to have delay
  comparable to that of mobile phones.
• CAT VoIP international service still faces
  problems about accessibility and latency.

12
Future Directions (Thailand)

• The establishment of the National
  Telecommunications Committee (NTC) as an
  independent regulatory body.
• The Telecommunications Act is in the approval
  process from the Parliament.
• Long-term policy goal is set for liberalization.

13
Future of Internet in Thailand

• EdNet
• Inter/Intranet link for 10,000 schools
• MOI network expansion
• E-Citizen project
• TOT VoIP Phase 3

14
VoIP in Other SEA Countries

• Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore VoIP
  licenses
• Cambodia and Laos
• Available but illegal
• Cambodian military police have detained 20
  foreigners on an alleged IDD bypass scam using an
  unlicensed IDD gateway.

15
VoIP in Other SEA Countries

• Vietnam
• The Posts and Telematics Ministry has suspended
  the sales of FPT Telecoms Internet phone card
  service.
• Allow only outbound Internet-based calls from
  computers to computers and from computers to
  telephones while prohibiting inbound Internet
  phone calls.

16
QoS of VoIP in SEA

• Only Singapore has clear QoS results on
• System Accessibility
• Service Activation
• Number of complaints
• Philippines ask for QoS but does not enforce.
• Thailand has informal user surveys.

17
Future of VoIP in SEA

• Move toward enterprise VoIP and Private
  leased-line infrastructure
• IP telephony gateway over conventional PABX
• Consolidation?!?