Forum to discuss broadband

       Fed up with the delay surrounding Thailand's 3G and Wimax deployments,the secretariat of apowerful Chulalongkorn-based think tank will release a report on October 28, presenting a model to vastly accelerate the nation's broadband deployment.
       Headlining the event, to be held at Sasin Graduate School of Business, will be True Corp. CEO Supachai Chearavanont, in his role as Rotating Chairman of Chulalongkorn's Meaningful Broadband Working Group. The Forum will be on October 28 at Sasin Graduate School of Business,1-4 pm, sponsored by Cisco Systems.
       "The report shows that broadband can be leveraged to bring new opportunities for low-income Thais. Meaningful Broadband is bringing together government, business and academia to this end," said Supachai.
       The report,A Model to Close Digital Divide , formulates a business model that would more than triple fixed and wireless broadband penetration in Thailand from the current predicted level of 17 percent by 2015, to more than 50 percent, a target called for by the ICT Minister Ranongrak Suwanchawee.
       The Forum, for the Chulalongkorn community, with some space available for the general public, will be opened by Dr Charas Suwanwela, Chairman of the University Council. Individuals interested in attending the forum can register after October 20 at www.meaningfulbroadband.org.
       Supachai recently replaced NTC commissioners as temporary leader of the Meaningful Broadband Working Group,which includes the top executives of AIS, DTAC, TOT Telecom and CAT Telecom, as well as the government's NTC.After gaining public feedback, the report will be revised and formally presented for the consideration of the Working Group and to the Prime Minister within the next several weeks.
       The author of the report, Chulalongkorn Visiting Professor Craig Warren Smith, a leader in the global movement to close digital divide is now in residence as Visiting Professor at Chulalongkorn to oversee the initiative. He says,"The Thai government rightly calls for a 'creative economy,' and for giving low-income Thais skills to be knowledge workers.But these concepts require broadband for their implementation. Mobile data services could be designed for smart phones to transmit a 'wealth effect,' lowering costs and increasing income."
       As an example, he offers the example of cellbazaar.com, an application that is used by millions of Bangladeshis to buy and sell, cutting out middlemen."If such applications become part of a suite of 'meaningful services' that are enabled by broadband and made affordable to all Thais, they would produce a more equitable Thai economy," says Prof Smith.
       He adds,"Even if 3G and Wimax licensing proceeds as planned, price points of the Thai broadband ecosystem will be so high that smart phones and netbooks will hardly reach beyond the 'yuppiephone' market. And they will be bundled with frivolous entertainment applications designed for international markets. They will be too pricey and irrelevant to the basic needs of Thai families who earn less than 20,000 baht a month," he said.
       Prof Soraj Hongladarom, director of the university's Center for Ethics of Science and Technology, which hosts the Meaningful Broadband Working Group,adds that the Secretariat is considering options for beta-test deployment of the model in Isan."We might invite innovators from IT labs from around the world to join to join in the effort to create web services that preserve Thai values as well as help low-income Thais develop essential new skills."