Political unrest spurs social networking and new products in Thailand
By Jon Fernquest
During
the recent political protests and turmoil in Thailand usage of social
networking
websites such as Twitter and Facebook increased dramatically. The mobile phone company DTAC is launching a new mobile phone SIM card in response to this surge in usage.
Today's article begins after the vocabulary below.
spur - cause
social networking - computer systems that link people together into communities of shared interest (See Wikipedia)
turmoil - disorder, unrest, chaos and uncontrolled activity ความยุ่งยาก, ความยุ่งเหยิง, ความสับสนอลหม่าน, ความโกลาหล
Twitter - an internet service with a continual stream of messages sent out that interconnected groups of people (followers listen to) (See Wikipedia)
Facebook - "a social networking website launched in February 2004 and operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc.[1] Users can add people as friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. Additionally, users can join networks organized by workplace, school, or college" (See Wikipedia and criticism)
DTAC - "the second largest GSM mobile phone provider in Thailand (after AIS)," owned by the Norwegian company Telenor (See Wikipedia)
SIM card - the small card inserted into the back of a mobile phone that identifies a subscriber, SIM means "Subscriber Identity Module" (See Wikipedia)
surge - a sudden increase
surge in usage - a sudden increase in people using something (hear: social networks such as Twitter and Facebook)
social networking - computer systems that link people together into communities of shared interest (See Wikipedia)
turmoil - disorder, unrest, chaos and uncontrolled activity ความยุ่งยาก, ความยุ่งเหยิง, ความสับสนอลหม่าน, ความโกลาหล
Twitter - an internet service with a continual stream of messages sent out that interconnected groups of people (followers listen to) (See Wikipedia)
Facebook - "a social networking website launched in February 2004 and operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc.[1] Users can add people as friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. Additionally, users can join networks organized by workplace, school, or college" (See Wikipedia and criticism)
DTAC - "the second largest GSM mobile phone provider in Thailand (after AIS)," owned by the Norwegian company Telenor (See Wikipedia)
SIM card - the small card inserted into the back of a mobile phone that identifies a subscriber, SIM means "Subscriber Identity Module" (See Wikipedia)
surge - a sudden increase
surge in usage - a sudden increase in people using something (hear: social networks such as Twitter and Facebook)
Telecommunications
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
DTAC launches new SIM to tap social networking
2/06/2010Srisamorn Phoosuphanusorn
DTAC, the country's second-largest mobile operator, is tapping the rapidly increasing social networking popularity in Thailand, spurred in large part by political unrest in April and May, by introducing prepaid real usage-based internet packages to stimulate demand.
The Happy Internet SIM, dubbed the first of its kind in the industry, is a response to a 4% increase in the company's mobile internet usage during the riots.
launch -
product launch, an event to celebrate or introduce something new
การเริ่มปฏิบัติการ, การออกตัวของสินค้า
tap - use or take advantage of something that exists
spurred - caused ก่อให้เกิด
in large part - mostly
political unrest - protests and violence in a country while fighting over political issues
package - set of products and services sold together as a bundle
prepaid package - paying for mobile phone time before it is actually used
postpaid package - paying a bill for mobile phone at the end of the month (after phone already used)
stimulate - encourage activity, growth, and development กระตุ้น (See glossary)
demand - the need and desire to buy goods and services by households and businesses
stimulate demand - cause people to start buting things again (after an economic downturn)
dubbed - given a name ตั้งฉายา, ตั้งชื่อเล่นให้
tap - use or take advantage of something that exists
spurred - caused ก่อให้เกิด
in large part - mostly
political unrest - protests and violence in a country while fighting over political issues
package - set of products and services sold together as a bundle
prepaid package - paying for mobile phone time before it is actually used
postpaid package - paying a bill for mobile phone at the end of the month (after phone already used)
stimulate - encourage activity, growth, and development กระตุ้น (See glossary)
demand - the need and desire to buy goods and services by households and businesses
stimulate demand - cause people to start buting things again (after an economic downturn)
dubbed - given a name ตั้งฉายา, ตั้งชื่อเล่นให้
Pakorn Pannachet, senior vice-president for the product division, said the new SIM was expected to attract up to 100,000 customers, targeting its existing 5 million users of feature phones, smartphones and social networks.
DTAC saw its mobile internet usage during the Bangkok riots increase by 4% from the average 2 gigabytes per second per day.
The average data usage of a DTAC customer is 20 hours per month, while the figure of a smartphone user is more than 30 hours per month, he said.
division
- one part of a large organisation
expected - believe will happen คาดว่า (จะเกิดขึ้น)
attract - to cause someone to be interested in something ดึงดูดความสนใจ
targeting - directing advertising, criticism or a product at someone เล็งไปที่
feature - one of the many things that a product includes
smartphones - mobile phones that offer advanced features so they become a lot like a computer (See Wikipedia)
data - information (for example: things downloaded from the internet) ข้อมูล
figure - an amount จำนวน
expected - believe will happen คาดว่า (จะเกิดขึ้น)
attract - to cause someone to be interested in something ดึงดูดความสนใจ
targeting - directing advertising, criticism or a product at someone เล็งไปที่
feature - one of the many things that a product includes
smartphones - mobile phones that offer advanced features so they become a lot like a computer (See Wikipedia)
data - information (for example: things downloaded from the internet) ข้อมูล
figure - an amount จำนวน
DTAC expects to have 4.5 million data users by the end of this year, up from 4 million now and 3.7 million at the end of last year. Mobile data users of AIS, DTAC and True Move totalled 13 million.
Mr Pakorn said DTAC expects its data usage to increase by 40-50% this year, in line with the industry's growth projection, thanks to a greater variety of smartphones and available content and applications.
DTAC posted an increase of 70% in data traffic last year while mobile leader AIS enjoyed a 110% rise in traffic
in line with - agreeing
with, following
projection - guessing or estimating a future amount based on information that you have การคาดคะเน
variety - many different types of things or people ความหลากหลาย
content - the stories and pictures inside a newspaper, website or other form of media เนื้อหา, สาระ
applications - computer programs that do specific things for people (example: accounting application)
traffic - the number of things (people, data, connections) flowing through a place, a road or a computer network
projection - guessing or estimating a future amount based on information that you have การคาดคะเน
variety - many different types of things or people ความหลากหลาย
content - the stories and pictures inside a newspaper, website or other form of media เนื้อหา, สาระ
applications - computer programs that do specific things for people (example: accounting application)
traffic - the number of things (people, data, connections) flowing through a place, a road or a computer network
He said the prepaid Happy SIM is expected to attract new social-network users, given that the packages required neither minimum fee nor monthly fee. The company charges 25 satang per minute for data usage through smartphones and aircards, and one baht a minute for calls to all networks.
Customers will receive 300 minutes free internet service within 30 days plus an additional 100 days when they refill.
network
- a large system of connected parts, organisations, people, etc.
เครือข่าย
fee - an amount of money that you pay to be allowed to do something ค่าธรรมเนียม, ค่าตอบแทน, ค่าบริการ
charges - a payment that has to be made for something เงินที่เรียกเก็บ
fee - an amount of money that you pay to be allowed to do something ค่าธรรมเนียม, ค่าตอบแทน, ค่าบริการ
charges - a payment that has to be made for something เงินที่เรียกเก็บ
An estimated 37% of Twitter users accessed the social network through mobile phones, said Pongsuk Hiranprueck, an IT show host.
The number of Twitter users in Thailand is 300,000, generating 350,000 messages per day. Up to 15,000 new subscribers were added during the riots. About 60% of Twitter users in Thailand access it from mobile phones.
There are 4 million Facebook users in Thailand compared with 1.7 million before the riots, he said.
Twitter - an
internet service with a continual stream of messages sent out that
interconnected groups of people (followers listen to) (See Wikipedia)
accessed - used; entered
host, show host - a person who introduces guests and performers, especially on television or radio พิธีกร, ผู้จัดรายการ
subscribers - a person who pays to receive a regular service or product (example: monthly magazine)
access - enter some place (in the internet, for example) and use some service
Facebook - "a social networking website launched in February 2004 and operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc.[1] Users can add people as friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. Additionally, users can join networks organized by workplace, school, or college" (See Wikipedia and criticism)
accessed - used; entered
host, show host - a person who introduces guests and performers, especially on television or radio พิธีกร, ผู้จัดรายการ
subscribers - a person who pays to receive a regular service or product (example: monthly magazine)
access - enter some place (in the internet, for example) and use some service
Facebook - "a social networking website launched in February 2004 and operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc.[1] Users can add people as friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. Additionally, users can join networks organized by workplace, school, or college" (See Wikipedia and criticism)
(Source: DTAC launches new SIM to tap social networking, 2/06/2010, Srisamorn Phoosuphanusorn, link)
