NBTC, Huawei ink infrastructure deal

The Office of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) on Monday announced a partnership with Huawei Technologies (Thailand) Co to accelerate fibre infrastructure development in Thailand at the “Giga Thailand: Broadband Forum”.

The event was hosted under the theme “Digital Infrastructure Benefits Everyone”, with the goal being to accelerate the development of a fibre-based infrastructure in Thailand. The project also aims to encourage future collaboration to boost economic growth and move towards the government’s much-vaunted concept of a “Digital Thailand”.

Trairat Viriyasirikul, deputy secretary-general of Strategic and Internal Affairs of the Office of the NBTC, said in his speech on Monday that fibre-based broadband is critical for the development of Thailand’s digital economy as well as the adoption of new technologies, innovative applications, and achieving the S-Curve across all industries in the country. Broadband coverage must be accelerated and upgraded to gigabit speeds.

”Moreover, the situation during the past two years shows us that broadband internet is very important for how we live our everyday lives and it will become more and more important. The partnership marks the start of our joint efforts to develop Thailand’s broadband infrastructure, which will in turn drive the country towards its goal of becoming an Asean digital hub and closing the digital divide,” Mr Trairat said.

Simon Lin, President of Huawei Asia Pacific, said “Digital infrastructure is benefiting individual lives. Technologies, such as broadband, 5G, cloud, and AI, keep our society together, and enable many people to work from home, connect with our loved ones and access medical resources. 2022 will open a new chapter for digital infrastructure.

” I believe that with our joint efforts, we can create a fully connected and inclusive Giga Thailand;” he said.

Abel Deng, CEO of Huawei Technologies (Thailand) Co, added that “The correlation of an overall technology can be interpreted. The density of our connections multiplied by the sheer amount of computing power at our disposal will ultimately determine the strength of the digital economy. The convergence of connectivity and computing will change all industries, whether transportation, finance, or energy, and create new value for society. Fibre broadband has become core infrastructure in the digital economy, similar to water and electricity, and it will be a new driver for social development and economic growth.”

Members of the forum will release a whitepaper featuring a collection of recommendations for accelerating the adoption of fibre-based infrastructure across Thailand, according to Mr Deng.

NBTC and Huawei will work together to drive three key aspects of the project to fruition: the adoption of fibre broadband infrastructure to improve the country’s connectivity index; narrowing the digital divide that exists in many communities without access to high-speed broadband in Thailand; and, finally, empowering those responsible for digital transformation in order to boost economic growth and bring a higher standard of living to country as a whole, the CEO said. Bangkok Post