True Corporation has earmarked 1.5 billion baht to expand its WiFi network coverage upcountry this year in anticipation of a 60% rise in subscriber numbers.
The amount of investment represents a six-time increase from average annual spending.
"The expansion is needed quickly to accommodate increasing mobile data connectivity and to offload 3G and 4G data traffic to WiFi networks," said Non Ingkutanon, True's general manager for broadband services.
"We plan to have 1.5 million WiFi customers this year, up from 900,000 last year," he said, adding that WiFi revenue is also expected to increase 60% this year.
The number of WiFi users in Thailand is seen reaching 2 million this year on proliferation of smartphones and tablets.
Mr Non said the company plans to increase the number of WiFi hotspots to 100,000 this year, especially upcountry with 30,000 to 40,000.
Mr Non said half of True's WiFi users were mobile customers and the rest broadband users. But the company expects 80% of its WiFi use to eventually come from mobile users.
True is testing the new technology WiFi 2.0 along with other global mobile operators. The company is among several mobile operators in Asia that are ready to test the new technology, apart from China Mobile and NTT DoCoMo, AT&T of the US and British Telecom.
Mr Non said WiFi 2.0, a next-generation hotspot, promises a cellular-like experience for WiFi users. It provides seamless automatic WiFi authentication and handoff, letting mobile users roam between networks without additional authentication.
Unlike existing WiFi, which requires users to register their mobile devices and mobile numbers for using a service, the 2.0 technology requires no login password in exchange for services.
True has installed WiFi 2.0 hotspots for a trial phase at CentralPlaza Grand Rama 9 and CentralPlaza Lardprao. It expects a commercial launch in the next two years.
