The event highlights discussion focused on the collaboration and network formation of key stakeholders from policy maker, business and community in the EEC region, and how Siemens can help customers to successfully manage their digital transformation and deliver proven outcomes.

In accordance with Pichet Durongkaveroj’s, the minister of digital economy and society, speech towards Thai development in digital era at the event that collaboration is a key success and it was essential to create economic partnerships across Asean.

The country has set the Digital Thailand Agenda 2018, focusing on five key areas of digital development, including digital infrastructure; digital government; cybersecurity; digital technology development; and digital human resource development.

Duangjai Asawachintachit, secretary general of Thailand Board of Investment (BoI), said to support the country’s Thailand 4.0 policy, BoI has developed a policy and new measures to promote technology and innovation, digital human resource development and the development of new economic corridors.

Markus Lorenzini, president of Siemens Limited, said as Thailand is rapidly transforming the nation towards advance innovation and technology for the future generation under the Thailand 4.0 initiative, Siemens has been actively supporting the country towards uplifting innovation and providing advanced technology for future generations.

“Our comprehensive product and system portfolio can potentially and significantly enhance and transform Thailand’s latest EEC Development Plan to be an innovative region. Siemens’ innovations and technologies can drive this smart city to be a greater digital megacity for the future,” added Lorenzini.

The certification was given by Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue.

Montri Suwanposri, president of CP Vietnam, said the company has improved the standard of food industry. New innovations and techniques are being used to ensure of environmentally friendly process from farm to plate.

“The sense of social responsibility is engrained in every Thai and Vietnamese employee. We cultivate all employees to be a giver through several of our projects and activities. Subsequently, the government and society has recognised us as one of the companies that drive Vietnam toward sustainable economy.”

It will also follow through with its existing roadmap, focusing on its two core businesses – engineering services and construction contractor and construction equipment, and Hospitality and Lifestyle – and furthering its foray into key Asian markets. The group says it is confident it will achieve its target income of Bt15 billion for 2019.

Yuthachai Charanachitta, the group’s CEO, said that Thailand’s construction sector can expect an average growth of 7-9 per cent per year over the period 2018-20, according to Krungsri Research, thanks to the infrastructure investment projects initiated partly as macroeconomic stimulus, particularly with the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).

Meanwhile, the domestic tourism industry is expected to grow by 9.6 per cent in 2018, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, on the back of the government’s tourism stimulating measures, which also correspond with the 20-year national strategy.

AIS Fibre customers in Thailand will be eligible to receive the Nokia WiFi Beacon 3 duo-pack for a special price which, once installed, should establish a whole-home meshed Wi-Fi network that significantly enhances ultra-broadband coverage and performance.

Many homes suffer from poor Wi-Fi performance. Speeds and reliability can be impacted by the number of connected devices and by interference from appliances like microwaves or Wi-Fi networks from neighbours. In addition, coverage is often inadequate due to dead zones from indoor walls. Solving these issues can be difficult, often requiring several access points to be installed.

The Nokia Wi-Fi solution eliminates these common home networking challenges and provides AIS Fibre customers with a true meshed Wi-Fi experience that is easy to install and delivers the whole-home coverage and performance needed to support ultra-broadband services.

Designed to detect 100 per cent of both Wi-Fi and non-Wi-Fi interference sources, the Nokia WiFi Beacon 3 automatically connects devices to the strongest channel to ensure a flawless experience, the firm said. Additionally, embedded software and analytic functions in the beacons automatically self-heal and optimise the Wi-Fi experience, eliminating the need for customers to manually manage the network to achieve optimal performance, it added.

MCOT’s CEO Kematat Paladesh said the corporate vision for next year is revised to “sensibly enable an equal access to creative, impartial and timely content to the audience”, based on the concept of being different. The company will shift from its traditional area to big data business, the chief executive said.

To strengthen its digital TV business, MCOT joins hands with BBC First, Discovery Science and Bloomberg Business TV.

It will broadcast CSR flagship show “Sure & Share” to educate children on how to handle fake online news.

MCOT is also working with the giant Chinese media company, China International Broadcasting Network (CIBN), to serve its online audiences with Chinese content on www.mcot.net.

That growth will be achieved through an intensive network quality improvement, redefining brand purpose to be more relevant to the market and customers’ needs, and by creating new growth engines for the future, Reich said.

DTAC will initially try to grow at the same rate as the industry at a stabilising market share by revenue, she added. Once DTAC is successful in stabilising its market share by revenue, its next step would focus on regaining the lost ground.

DTAC subsidiary DTAC TriNet obtained a 1800MHz licence totalling 2x5MHz bandwidth from the auction in August, and has already made the first instalment payment for the band. It also clinched a 900MHz licence totalling 2x5MHz bandwidth from the auction in October.

Competitor Advanced Info Service (AIS) group currently boasts the largest holding of 120MHz spectrum bandwidth, while True group and DTAC group each hold equal amounts of 110MHz bandwidth.

DTAC will keep investing heavily in network expansion in coming years, said Reich.

According to the recent filing of its third quarter financial results to the Stock Exchange of Thailand, DTAC has revised its full-year 2018 capital expenditures to a range of Bt18 billion to Bt20 billion. That would accelerate the 2300MHz-network expansion. The previous set range was Bt15 billion to Bt18 billion.

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) intends to auction the remaining seven lots of the 1800MHz licence next year.

When asked if DTAC will participate in the auction of these remaining lots, Reich pointed to several factors, especially regarding the usage patterns of DTAC customers, that the company needs to consider before deciding whether to participate.

Even if DTAC assumed value in bidding for the lots to increase its customers’ network experience, it would still have to consider whether the auction conditions were acceptable and worth the investment, she said.

“For some time we have been advocating for the spectrum prices to come down and also for a change in the payment terms – and now it is time to make a change.”

DTAC will also have to anticipate what other spectrum bands will be auctioned in the near future. As NBTC does not have a spectrum roadmap, this remained an uncertainty, she added.

Reich said that as spectrum is the key telecommunication resource, and will have an impact on the country’s development, DTAC requests that the government and NBTC ensure the spectrum supply for industry is both sufficient and competitive. A spectrum roadmap would help investors decide and plan their long-term investments in the right spectrum bands.

The government’s support is much needed if the country would like to deploy 5G wireless technology in the next two years, Reich added.

The NBTC is aiming to get 5G service off the ground in Thailand in 2020. It recently approved requests from AIS and True to test the 5G technology during November 22 to December 15.

Reich said that there are precedent cases in advanced countries of collaboration between governments and the private sector on 5G deployment, which all parties could use as case studies on how to achieve the policy to implement 5G in 2020.

She added that the related parties should also work together to migrate 2G customers to 3G or 4G. It is also time to sunset 2G, as many other countries are doing, but this needs to be an industry-wide move, conducted by the NBTC.

Reich said that the full potential of 5G is still hugely misunderstood. Unlike 3G and 4G, 5G’s advent won’t simply be a case of telecom operators upgrading their networks and device makers rolling out new phones.

To be effective and sustainable, Thailand’s 5G strategy must engage entire industries, connecting businesses not only to consumers but also to other businesses in entirely new ways.

She said that DTAC sees a pressing need to build robust industry in which 5G can create value for all of Thai society. In that domain, DTAC benefits from the experience and support of its Norwegian strategic partner Telenor, which is leading the pan-European 5G project across four countries.

In Kongsberg, Norway, Telenor has already begun a full-fledged 5G pilot, with mobile broadband, autonomous vehicles and remote health services.

She said that the availability of new spectra and spectrum pricing for offering 5G in Thailand will need to be carefully reviewed so as to |promote 5G adoption, rather than cripple it.

Organiser Kwanchai Paphatphong said 45,000 orders are expected to be placed for new and existing models on display, while a further 8,000 bookings for motorcycles are also expected.

“We expect 1.5 million people to visit the show this year,” he said.

Five concept vehicles and 20 new models are drawing crowds to the Motor Expo, which marks the year-end auto-buying season.

The theme of this year’s event is “Enjoy Driving! Before Driverless Era”. There are 36 automakers and 23 motorcycle manufacturers participating in the event, which lasts until December 10.

Concept vehicles include the Mercedes-Benz EQA, Mazda Vision Coupe, MG e-Motion, Mini John Cooper Works GP and Porsche Mission E.

Among the new models being launched are the Aston Martin Vantage, BMW 8 Series, Porsche Macan, Honda Accord, Hyundai Kona Electric, Nissan Teana and Subaru Forester. Apart from exhibits, visitors also get to participate in a skills driving experience, off-road training, and motorcycle training.

At the Autonomous Test Drive Area, visitors get to experience various assist systems such as automatic |parking and braking.

Poramin Insom, founder and CEO of Satang Corporation, yesterday said his company would issue the STO by the end of this year or early next year to raise funds from investors worldwide.

Investors holding STOs would be like shareholders of listed companies; they could earn dividends should the firm generate profits.

Poramin was optimistic that investors would welcome it. “Unlike ICO [initial coin offering], STO will provide a more secure investment, as they will have rights similar to shareholders of listed companies,” he said.

He expected investors to like the STO as compared to ICOs, which guaranteed nothing.

STOs have evolved from ICOs, as issuers respond to the changing market demand and associated risks.

He admitted that the current market is not on his side, as the values of major cryptocurrencies have been falling sharply. For example, bitcoin is now trading at slightly over US$3,000 (Bt96,000), down from its peak of about $20,000 last year.

Trade wars, regulations and speculation have affected the valuations of digital currencies, he said.

Poramin is also the developer of Zcoin, a cryptocurrency that now trades at Bt160, down from its peak of Bt5,000 per coin.

He, however, was optimistic that the markets for digital currencies would expand if the ecosystem of digital assets is developed.

He said his company plans to develop Satang App, an e-wallet, which could allow consumers to make payments via Promt-pay infrastructure. The application will convert cryptocurrencies in the e-wallet to baht and shop owners will get baht.

The company also plans to promote a “Satang Shop”, which will accept cryptocurrency payments.

“We will start at tourist sites such as Phuket and Pattaya,” he said.

Satang Corporation will rebrand its exchange market for trading cryptocurrency to “Satang Pro” from the current TDAX.

TDAX is the second largest exchange in Thailand with daily trade volumes of cryptocurrencies estimated at Bt 100 million and about 30,000 investors trading daily, he said.

He said he had developed a trial trading tool for new investors who want to enter the market, in a bid to expand the number of investors.

The number of investors trading in cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin via five exchanges in Thailand is estimated to be 300,000 and trade volume is currently at over Bt 200 million daily, down from a peak of Bt 1billion.