An analysis of mobile Internet access in Thailand: Implications for bridging the digital divide

doi:10.1016/j.tele.2011.10.003

Telematics and Informatics

Volume 29, Issue 3, August 2012, Pages 254-262

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2011.10.003 Get rights and content

Abstract

Mobile Internet is growing around the world, bypassing the poor legacy of wired infrastructure. This growth can be observed even in developing countries like Thailand. To cope with this trend, this study attempts to provide guidance to a national regulatory agency (NRA) by addressing the following question: What are the key determinant factors for individual consumer to access mobile Internet? A discrete choice model is employed to examine empirically whether price, service, and application attributes, socio-economic variables, and service provider have a systematic link with the decision of the consumer. The data from a national survey in 2010 commissioned by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) of Thailand are used for the analysis.

The results show that price, availability of fixed telephony, age, and living area are recognized as the strongest determinants for mobile Internet adoption. The findings also suggest that mobile Internet could be an alternative technology to bridge the digital divide, as the group of people that does not have fixed Internet connection at home can connect via mobile Internet. The price of mobile Internet service is inelastic, however, which means that an increase in price does not affect the propensity to access mobile Internet. This is a result of the lack of competition in fixed connection due to the concession, and it leads to limited choice for the consumer. Telecom regulators and policymakers therefore need to consider policies such as increasing competition and infrastructure investment in order to stimulate growth of mobile Internet adoption and close the digital divide in Thailand.

Highlights

► This study examines the determinant factors of mobile Internet adoption in Thailand. ► A discrete choice model is employed together with data from a national survey in 2010. ► Price of mobile Internet service, fixed-line and demography are the crucial factors. ► Also, mobile Internet could be an alternative technology to bridge the digital divide.

Introduction

With the growing penetration of wireless devices and the rapid technological development, wireless technology has shifted the world of fixed Internet access to mobile Internet access. Mobile Internet, which is generally defined as the use of the Internet via hand-held devices such as mobile phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and laptops, is considered to be significantly different from fixed Internet, at least in terms of mobility and convenience. Mobile Internet provides not only voice communication but also data and video communications through mobile devices, for example, money transfer, location-based services, mobile search, mobile browsing, mobile health monitoring, and mobile payment. This has led to an astonishing growth rate for mobile Internet worldwide.

It is clear that mobile Internet has driven fundamental changes in the mobile industry, business, individual lifestyles, and society at large. According to Gartner (2010), by 2013, mobile phones will overtake personal computers (PCs) as the most common web access device worldwide. The combined installed base of Smartphone and browser-equipped enhanced phones will exceed 1.82 billion units and be greater than the installed base for PCs, which is expected to be 1.78 billion units. This presents increasing consumer interest in mobile Internet and a new source of revenue for the industry.

Moreover, the benefits of mobile Internet can be seen as offering an alternative for bridging the digital divide,¹ in particular, for a developing country. Gunasekaran and Harmantzis (2007) note that three main issues must be considered to bridge the digital divide: accessibility, availability, and affordability of service and application. Thailand, as a developing country, is also confronted with the digital divide, both at a national and international level (Tangkitvanitch, 2005, Srinuan et al., 2010). At the end of 2009, the mobile penetration rate was 98.58%, while the fixed telephony and Internet penetration rates were 11.12% and 25.80%, respectively (NTC, 2010). This shows that the underdevelopment of fixed infrastructure has led to a low Internet penetration rate. On the other hand, there was an apparent leap-frogging of mobile over fixed both in terms of network coverage and subscription in Thailand. Furthermore, the current situation in Thailand reveals that mobile Internet subscribers make up 30% of the total number of mobile subscribers (NTC, 2010). The proportion of non-voice services has gradually increased, and it passed 20% at the end of 2010. This is faster than forecasted by the regulator (NTC, 2009, NTC, 2010). The two trends that have driven the growth of mobile Internet in Thailand are the introduction of third-generation mobile technology (3G) and improved coverage of mobile infrastructure, which also supports this argument. Hence, mobile Internet has the potential to close the digital gap.

With regard to the introduction of 3G, despite the delay in issuing new 3G licenses in Thailand, the existing mobile operators are expected to migrate from 2.5G-based mobile systems to 3G-based systems or beyond, which will allow for multimedia transmission. As this convergence offers great potential for increasing Internet penetration rates and includes non-Internet users in the near future, it is argued that a valuable insight into current usage of mobile Internet can be gained to inform and guide the NRA and policymaker with regard to the digital divide.

Against this background, the aim of this study is to examine the determinant factors for mobile Internet access in Thailand. The data used in this study are based on a survey sample of individual users commissioned by the NTC, the Thai telecom regulator, in 2010. An overview of mobile Internet in Thailand and a brief discussion of relevant academic studies are provided in the next section. Section 3 introduces the data and econometric method. Section 4 presents the findings and discusses the policy implications of the results. Finally, the study ends with a conclusion in Section 6.

Section snippets

An overview of mobile Internet service in Thailand

Mobile communication services were introduced in Thailand more than two decades ago. Mobile subscribers have increased gradually year on year, and, by 2010, the mobile penetration rate had reached 100%. At the same time, the number of mobile Internet users is growing. According to the NTC (2010), 30% of mobile subscribers use mobile Internet. This suggests that mobile Internet has the potential to become a common means of access to the Internet in Thailand, where the fixed Internet

Data

A nationwide face-to-face interview-based survey of people in Thailand was commissioned by the NTC in 2010, and this survey was administered by the Thammasat University during May and June the same year. The questionnaire consisted of ten parts. Nine asked about telecom and media services such as fixed telephony, mobile telephony, the Internet, public phone, radio, and television, and the rest were about socio-economic backgrounds.

The respondents were selected across each region of Thailand:

Findings

The regression result indicates that R² is 0.3164. This means that approximately 31.64% of the decision on whether to access mobile Internet is explained by the model. The estimated results are reported in Table 6 by transforming them into the marginal effects that can be explained as the change in magnitude of the dependent variable if the explanatory variable changes.

The results show that the demand for access to mobile Internet has an inverse relationship to the price of mobile Internet. The

Conclusion

The transition from fixed to wireless technology is now taking over not only in voice communication but also in data communication and on the Internet. This phenomenon may be a good sign for bridging the digital divide by means of wireless technology. However, it is difficult to develop policies to accelerate the diffusion of mobile Internet without understanding the underlying factors that explain mobile Internet adoption.

This study has examined mobile Internet adoption in Thailand based on a

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the National Telecommunications Commission of Thailand (NTC) for providing valuable data support, as well as the survey team at the Thammasat University, and Professor Masatsugu Tsuji and Ms. Orada Teppayayon of for their helpful comments. The early version of this paper was presented in the 2011 ITS Asia-Pacific Regional Conferences, 26–28 June, 2011 Taiwan.

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An analysis of mobile Internet access in Thailand: Implications for bridging the digital divide

Abstract

Highlights

Introduction

Section snippets

An overview of mobile Internet service in Thailand

Data

Findings

Conclusion

Acknowledgments

Information Economics and Policy

Information Economics and Policy

Telecommunications Policy

Technology in Society

Technology in Society

Omega

Telecommunications Policy

Technology in Society

Information & Management

Telecommunications Policy

Interacting with Computers

Telecommunications Policy

Substitution between DSL, cable, and mobile broadband Internet service