The commercial service of Personal Communication Telephone (PCT) based on PHS technology was launched on November 15, 1999 in Bangkok, Thailand, by Telephone Organization of Thailand (TOT) and TelecomAsia Corporation Public Co. Ltd. (TA). This is the first ever public PHS service in a country other than Japan. This achievement came after the two carriers successfully completed their two-year field trial involving some 100,000 PCT terminals.
PCT Grand Opening Ceremony
TOT and TA co-hosted the “PCT Grand Opening Ceremony” at Central Grand Plaza Hotel to celebrate the launch of commercial PCT service on November 15. Some 200 people attended this event.
The event began with an opening speech by Mr. Supachai Chearavanont, the TA President, followed by a guest speech by Mr. Suthenep Thaugsban, the Thai Communications Minister. In his speech, the minister stated how grateful he was for the support from PHS MoU Group for the PCT project.
The actual moment of launching commercial PCT service came when a special object called the “Millennium Ball” was touched by Mr. Thaugsban, Mr. Dhanin Chearavanont (the TA Chairman), Mr. Sombat Uthai-sarng (advisor to the Thai Ministry of Communications), Mr. Sitthichai Songpirayakit (TOT Vice Chairman) and Mr. Nobutoshi Akao (Japanese Ambassador to Thailand). A champagne toast by all participants followed.
Among the Japanese participants were Dr. Hitomi Murakami, the PHS MoU Group Chairman; Mr. Hideki Nomura, Executive Vice President of NTT Mobile Communications Network, Inc. (NTT DoCoMo); and, Mr. Hiroki Hirasawa, Director of DDI Tokyo Pocket Telephone, Inc. (DDI-P) (the two companies are public PHS operators in Japan).
“TA Privileges Thank You Party”
Prior to the launch of commercial PCT service, the event for PCT terminals sales promotion “TA Privileges Thank You Party” was held at the Mall Department Store in Ngamwongwan, a Bangkok suburb, from November 10 through 16.
A massive number of people wanting to subscribe to the PCT service swamped the event site. Since the right to the PCT subscription is limited to fixed phone subscribers using TA or TOT only, people gathered at the site had their eligibility checked. The event promoters then handed each of those found eligible a PCT terminal containing their own personal data.
On the first day, the event drew some 50,000 people, selling 22,000 PCT terminals. The event was extended for two more days to deal with long lines of people. The event achieved a total sales of more than 100,000 terminals, comprising models from several manufacturers. TA has high hopes that more terminal manufacturers will enter the Thai market.
PHS MoU Group also set up its own booth at the site. The Group displayed the latest PHS terminals, in addition to providing explanations on the latest PHS services and technologies, courtesy of DDI-P, NTT DoCoMo and Tokyo Telecommunication Network Co., Inc. (TTNet).
PCT service
PCT service in Thailand is offered as an additional feature to fixed telephone service, targeting 3 million people subscribing to the fixed phone services by TOT and TA.
There are two types of service: class 1 (“follow me”) and class 2 (“caller’s choice”).
The former allows addition of a PCT terminal to a fixed phone. When the number for fixed phone is dialed, the PCT terminal rings. And when the terminal is outside the service area or when its battery has run out, the call is forwarded to the fixed phone automatically (see Fig. 1).
The latter enables addition of up to nine PCT terminals to a fixed phone by adding numbers 1 to 9 to the end of the fixed phone’s number (see Fig. 2). Upon dialing the fixed phone’s number, the caller receives a message from intelligent network (IN) asking to enter the additional number representing the terminal that the caller wants to reach. To reach the fixed phone itself, on the other hand, the caller enters 0. Fig. 3 shows the system configuration of the PCT service.
The sign-up fee for the PCT service is 800 bahts (1 Thai baht is approximately 0.03 US dollar); the monthly basic charge, 200 bahts. The charge for the first 2-minute airtime is 3 bahts, with an additional charge of 1.5 bahts per minute after 3 minutes. This pricing is relatively low compared to cellular service, which charges 4,000 bahts for the sign-up and 500 bahts for the monthly basic charge.
The current PCT service (Phase 1) covers the central district of Bangkok totaling 1,500 square kilometers, where some 45,000 CSs (Cell Stations) have been installed. The service is also made accessible inside some 1,500 premises such as shopping malls, hotels, hospitals and universities. In Phase 2, the service coverage will be expanded to the entire Bangkok metropolitan area of some 4,200 square kilometers.
