Do you have a 2G 1-2-Call phone? Your service ends today

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AIS is 1-2-Call. That's the service most of you probably are using. If your phone is not capable of 3G or 4G, your phone service will be cut off tonight (Tuesday) at midnight.

You may get a 3 month reprieve. AIS has filed for an injunction to delay the cutoff date by three months.

In the meantime, you need to migrate your service to another company, such as True. I don't have any idea how to go about that, but probably any phone shop can tell you what to do. You might want to consider shopping for a new phone. Apparently 2G is quickly becoming as obsolete as rotary dial.
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AIS 2G users face cut-off

400,000 likely to lose mobile signals at midnight Tuesday

by Komsan Tortermvasana

15 Mar 2016

Signals for 2G SIM cards on the 900-megahertz network will be cut off after midnight Tuesday, says the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).

About 400,000 2G users remain on the 900-megahertz network run previously by Advanced Info Service (AIS), the country's biggest mobile operator.

The cut-off order came after the NBTC Monday granted a 15-year 900MHz spectrum licence to True Move H Universal Communication (TUC), the 4G arm of True Corporation, three days after the company paid for the license.

This was in line with auction rules stipulating that AIS would have to switch off its network three days after bid winner TUC paid for its license.

Also Monday, AIS filed a complaint with the Central Administrative Court, asking the court to force the NBTC to extend the period for its 2G customer retention to ensure service continuity and consumer benefits as stipulated in NBTC rules.

The court asked the NBTC to provide more details about customer retention measures Tuesday.

"AIS will have one last chance Tuesday to migrate its existing 2G users to other networks or to brace for customer losses," said NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith.

He said 400,000 2G users on the 900MHz network will be unable to use mobile services after signals are cut off.

AIS has already migrated 7.6 million 2G customers to DTAC's 1800MHz network under a roaming agreement.

Mr Takorn said AIS insisted that DTAC's 1800MHz network, with 98% population coverage nationwide, could accommodate the company's 7.6 million users.

He also stressed that the NBTC has no authority to extend the period for AIS to oversee its 2G customers, saying extending it would be breaching the telecom laws.

"We did our best effort to seek a win-win resolution among the three related parties on the 2G customer retention deal, but no one could accept the proposals of each other," said Mr Takorn.

The three parties involved are AIS, TUC and TOT Plc.

AIS chief executive Somchai Lertsutiwong said the company was preparing to give away 3G/4G smartphones to its 400,000 2G customers faced with losing phone signals.

Customers who bring their disconnected 2G SIM cards will get a free smartphone handset plus 50 baht worth of call time. The deal will be available at AIS service outlets and the Subdistrict Administrative Organisation nationwide.

AIS has spent at least 8 billion baht giving away 4G smartphones to its 10 million 3G customers still using 2G phones including the latest campaign.

The budget also includes the cost of AIS renting DTAC's 1800MHz network to continue providing 2G mobile services.

Mr Somchai said AIS wanted the NBTC to allow the company to automatically migrate its 400,000 2G users to AIS's 3G network.

"If the regulator accepts our request, those 2G users will face no service disruption," he said.

Mr Takorn, however, said the NBTC rejected AIS's request as it would be breaching the regulations governing mobile number portability.

Mr Somchai also said TUC's proposal to give AIS another three months to oversee the latter's 2G users on the 900MHz network free of charge was simply to build its corporate image because accepting it would be breaching telecom laws.

More importantly, he said, the proposal could not be concluded before the network shut down.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/new ... ce-cut-off
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AIS bids to delay 2G-900 service cut-off

by Sirivish Toomgum

THE NATION
March 15, 2016

Advanced Info Service yesterday sought an injunction from the Central Administrative Court to allow its customers to continue using its second-generation cellular service for three months, according to Wilai Keangpradoo, AIS senior vice president for public relations.

The company made the move after the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission told it yesterday that it had to shut down the 2G service at midnight tonight, when the remedy period it had granted AIS will end.

AIS executives then decided to seek the injunction to protect its subscribers and to ask for an extension of the remedy period, which the NBTC had granted after AIS's concession expired last year.

AIS informed the Stock Exchange of Thailand yesterday of its application for an injunction. The company said it was attempting to mitigate the effects of service disruption in accordance with the NBTC's aim for the best interest of the public and ensuring service continuity.

The SET filing was signed by AIS chief executive officer Somchai Lertsutiwong.

The court yesterday asked the NBTC to explain its position today.

Last Friday, AIS submitted its last request to the NBTC for an extension of the remedy period for its customers 2G on to 900-megahertz spectrum.

It also asked permission to use only the idle 5MHz of the 900MHz band in Lot 1 to ensure continuity of service. Lot 1 was assigned to Jas Mobile Broadband, one of the two companies that won licences last year to use the 900MHz spectrum.

However, the NBTC has insisted all along that it cannot extend the remedy period, citing its telecom committee's decision requiring AIS to shut down its 2G service when the NBTC grants one of the 900MHz licences to either winner of last year's auction.

The telecom committee awarded the 15-year 900MHz licence to True Move H Universal Communication (TUC) yesterday, for effect tomorrow.

Suphachai Chearavanont, chief executive officer of True Corp, said after receiving the licence that True would launch the 900MHz service full-scale nationwide at the end of May on 16,000 sites.

Takorn Tantasith, secretary-general of the NBTC, said the other 900MHz licence winner, Jas, had reportedly clinched a loan from foreign banks so it could afford to pay the fees required to secure the licence.

Jas has yet to pay the first instalment of the upfront licence fee. The deadline is Monday.

AIS has about 8 million 2G customers, of whom 7.6 million are with the network of its subsidiary Advanced Wireless Network (AWN) and the rest, about 400,000, are on its own network. AIS will roam AWN's 2G customers on the 1,800MHz band of Total Access Communication (DTAC).

Takorn believes that AIS's service shutdown would likely affect only a few of the 400,000 AIS customers because the NBTC last Thursday ordered AIS to hurry to transfer all of its 400,000 2G customers to AWN. The phone-number portability centre can serve 60,000 switches per day.

He also believes that not all of these 400,000 customers are active.

Takorn urged AIS's 2G-900MHz subscribers to hurry and transfer their mobile-phone numbers yesterday and today before their service is turned off. If they can do so on time, they can continue using their old numbers.

While AIS wants to transfer all 400,000 2G customers to AWN via the over-the-air method on their mobile phones, Takorn said this request could not be granted.

Somchai Lertsutiwong, chief executive officer of AIS, insisted that the NBTC had the authority to consider allowing AIS to use Jas's band, since Jas had yet to pick its licence up.

AIS has been prepared since the end of the auction of 900MHz licences late last year to ensure all customers can continue calling, he said.

The existing measures to protect consumers began with the launch of the campaign to migrate 2G customers to AWN, followed by roaming them with DTAC and expanding AWN's network to cover blind spots in coverage.

He said the roaming deal with DTAC had no term. Neither side specified when the agreement would end.

Last week True offered its 900MHz band to AIS to use free of charge for three months to serve its 2G customers.

Somchai said AIS had never been approached directly by True on this matter.

He doubts that the proposal is practical, as it might not comply with NBTC rules and regulations.

The average monthly revenue per user of these 400,000 2G customers is about Bt100.

Somchai said the service cut-off would not affect AIS's image but that of the whole industry, as the disconnected customers would rush to complain on social media about who is to blame. He does not want to see that happen.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/busines ... 81601.html

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AIS wins court injunction

The Nation

March 16, 2016

The Central Administrative Court agreed to extend one-month temporary injunction to Advanced Info Service's plea, giving more time to the company's 2G subscribers to migrate to any operator they wish.

In a statement released after the court’s decision late Tuesday night, AIS said that the injunction would also allow the subscribers to change their handsets to more advance technology of 3G/4G.

AIS sought the court injunction following the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission’s directive that the 900MHz spectrum would be handed over to True Move H Universal Communication on March 14 which would hence disrupt services to AIS’s 2G subscribers. AIS had operated its 2G service on this spectrum for over a decade but after the end of concession, the spectrum was put on auction and True Move H won the bid.

The transfer of the spectrum would affect around 400,000 customers of AIS, while the remaining 7.6 million 2G subscribers have already migrated to a new service provider, AWN, which is an AIS subsidiary. Without the injunction, among the 7.6 million subscribers, those who own phones that could operate singly on 900MHz spectrum would also face service disruption on March 16.

The Court ruled that the handover directive by the NBTC’s telecom panel was announced in such a short notice. It also said the injuction should not cause financial damage to True Move H, given the company’s own decision to set aside part of the spectrum for public services until May 31.

The injunction would extend the end of service to these mobile phone users from midnight of March 15 to midnight of April 14.

"The Central Administrative Court's verdict reveals that the remedy shall be extended for another 30 days (until April 14, 2016) resulting in the service continuity of such group of customers for such a period of time. AIS strongly affirm the intention to continuingly do whatever it takes to ensure service continuity of the customers," said Somchai Lertsutiwong, chief executive officer of AIS.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakin ... 81714.html