DTAC kicked off the commercial 2.3GHz service yesterday in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen and Phuket, along with offering new deals

for mobile data packages and smartphone discounts.

DTAC’s chief technology officer, Prathet Tankuranun, said that the DTAC Turbo network coverage would be expanded to 37 provinces this year, with more provinces added later. The expansion has focused on those provinces with existing high demand for mobile data consumption.

DTAC operates the 2.3GHz band under a business partnership with TOT.

DTAC chief executive officer Lars Norling said the service roll-out strategy is to get started in those areas where the Internet data usage is the highest.

“Then, we will expand the service to other areas, even in small districts,” Norling said. “Our launch will proceed according to our plan, and we are confident our customers will love how much smoother their network experience will be on DTAC Turbo.”

Panya Vechbanyongratana, DTAC chief commercial officer, said that the huge demand for online streaming has helped increase the number of DTAC’s 4G subscribers to about 8.5 million.

According to a global digital report released early this by We Are Social (www.wearesocial.com), Thailand is one of the world leaders in high-speed mobile Internet daily usage. The analysis of mobile Internet usage behaviour shows that Thais consume the most data for chat app services and rank second in data usage for videos. Thailand is also one of the top countries for time spent watching YouTube clips.