First WiMax trials underway in Thailand

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First WiMax trials underway in Thailand 
The Nation: 23 Mar 2010
FIRST WIMAX TRIALS
Wireless broadband comes to Mae Hong Son
By Asina Pornwasin
The Nation
Remote province enters the IT mainstream

Within the next few months, the digital divide will disappear in one of Thailand's most remote provinces, Mae Hong Son.

The small, tranquil province, all but cut off behind the mountains of northern Thailand, is about to get one of the country's first WiMax wireless broadband services, giving local access to the Internet, online learning and video conferencing with quality equaling that of fibre-optic connections in Bangkok.

The so-called WiMax IT Valley Project is a collaborative effort involving the National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre (Nectec) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica).

It is not a commercial WiMax service, but one of two current trials of the technology in Thailand. The other involves the deployment of a Cisco WiMax network by private telecom company TT&T at Mae Fah Luang University, also in the mountainous North.

WiMax stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access. Although the National Telecommunication Commission (NTC) has authorised the trials, it has not yet issued licences for commercial WiMax operations.

The Mae Hong Son project involves the installation of four WiMax base stations and WiMax Clients, or points of access - called customer-premises equipment (CPEs) - at 45 sites throughout three main districts: Pai, Muang Mae Hong Son and Mae Sariang.

The network and all its equipment will be ready for use in May. However, the project will be officially kicked off on Sunday by Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn at NAC2010 - the annual conference of Nectec's parent body, the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA). The project's official opening will be broadcast live through the WiMax network in Mae Hong Son.

The IT Valley Project has its origins in commemorations of His Majesty the King's 80th birthday. It is a human-resources development scheme involving the use of information technology to vitalise rural communities.

Project leader Kitti Wongthavarawat, a Nectec researcher, said the main purpose was to bring high-speed Internet access to people and students in Mae Hong Son, where the mountainous topography rules out fibre-optic networks.

"As a first step, we have installed the WiMax equipment supplied by Jica in Muang district. This will be ready for use in May, with one base station and two WiMax clients - one at the Provincial Administration office and the other at Mae Hong Son Suksa School. We will install more and more until we complete the whole project by the end of this year," Kitti said.

Jica has provided all the WiMax equipment for the project, worth Bt90 million. It has also arranged for the transfer of WiMax technologies to Nectec in order to help Thailand develop its own WiMax equipment.

Kitti said that as well as implementing the WiMax network, Nectec would deploy applications to run on WiMax, including e-learning for students and video conferencing for government officials.

"The mountains of Mae Hong Son are an obstacle for students and people, making it difficult to travel for studies and meetings. They waste a lot of time and travel expenses performing their daily activities. WiMax technology will make their routine activities easier," he said.

Following the installation of the network in Muang Mae Hong Son, Nectec will proceed to install equipment in the remaining districts.

At the same time, it is developing its own WiMax Client - the equipment installed in customers' premises to provide points of access to the network. A prototype is being refined and a new version is expected to be ready by the end of this year.

"We want to increase the number of access points to more than the 45 that are provided under the project." Kitti said. "WiMax in this project is under the IEEE 802.16e standard, and although there are WiMax Clients commercially available with this standard, they are not available in Thailand."

As well as implementing the network and developing hardware, Kitti also said that Nectec, as Jica's local partner, would train people in Mae Hong Son to maintain the system and train teachers to develop and distribute courseware through e-learning platforms over the WiMax network.

"Eventually, local people have to maintain and utilize this technology on their own. That is our aim," Kitti said. "In the future, they might add on a Wi-Fi service for tourists, because Mae Hong Son is one of the most attractive tourist places in Thailand."