2017 Thailand - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Digital Media - Statistics and Analyses

Thailand sees extraordinary mobile broadband growth

The Thai telecom market is a complex commercial environment, with a mix of state-owned companies and private operators functioning under a wide variety of corporate and regulatory structures and interfaces.

The fixed line market in Thailand remains underdeveloped and penetration has been declining over the past five years. A major reason for this is due to the dominance of the mobile segment and the growth of mobile broadband. The market is predicted to further decline over the next five years to 2022 as both mobile subscriber and mobile broadband penetration continue to increase.

The government's plans to invest 10 billion baht towards improving the nation's telecom infrastructure as part of its digital economy strategy. The government aims to double Thailand's internet-connected population to 40 million users by 2018.

In 2017 Thailand's Ministry of Sciences & Technology, Ministry of Digital Economy & Society, and Huawei, jointly developed a digital roadmap to achieve its “Thailand 4.0” vision. The Road Map has been developed from a realization that digital technologies can drive socio-economic development and economic growth of countries.

Thailand’s mobile market is relatively developed compared to other Asian markets and has experienced strong growth over the last five years. Very slow growth is predicted over the next five years to 2022 with annual growth rates further easing. The market will be constrained from higher growth due to a saturated mobile subscriber market and strong local competition.

Thailand has seen a very rapid increase in mobile broadband penetration over the past five years driven by strong growth of 4G mobile subscribers. Slowing growth is predicted over the next five years to 2022 as the market reaches a heightened state of maturity.

The Thailand market is now moving towards 5G. In April 2017, True Corp enlisted Ericsson to oversee what it hopes will be the country’s first 5G trial.

Fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) continues to grow strongly in major metropolitan areas. AIS commercially launched its residential fibre broadband service, ‘AIS Fibre’, offering connection speeds of up to 1Gbps via FTTH.

The Thailand market has witnessed reasonably strong growth in the fixed broadband market over the past few years from a relatively small base. Fixed broadband penetration remains low mainly due to a limited number of fixed lines and the dominance of the mobile platform. Over the next five years to 2022 slower and declining growth is predicted.

The penetration of Internet users in Thailand has grown very strongly over the past five years driven by strong growth in mobile broadband. Slower but still moderate growth is predicted over the next five years to 2022 due to a maturing market.

Key developments:

• The fixed line market remains underdeveloped and penetration has been declining over the past five years.
• The fixed line market is predicted to further decline over the next five years to 2022.
• A digital roadmap to achieve its “Thailand 4.0” vision has been developed.
• Thailand’s mobile market has experienced strong growth over the last five years.
• The Thailand market is now moving towards 5G.
• Thailand has seen a very rapid increase in mobile broadband penetration.
• Fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) continues to grow strongly in major metropolitan areas.
• Over the next five years to 2022 slower and declining fixed broadband growth is predicted.

Key companies mentioned in this report:

TOT Corp; CAT Telecom; True Corp; True Move; TT&T; AIS; DTAC; Thaicom, Triple T Broadband; AIS; DTAC; Cable Thai (CTH).