AIS Fibre ranked top Thai home internet in Asia Pacific by Frost & Sullivan

AIS Fibre ranked top Thai home internet in Asia Pacific by Frost & SullivanProactive response in 2021 continues concept of "Forward, Better, Simpler"Target of making top 3 in Thai broadband internet

• Not cutting out! AIS Fibre is the leader of the home internet business with the greatest growth in the industry. Despite the risk factors of Covid-19, in the third quarter new customers increased by 4.4% more robust growth than the market, which grew only 1.2%.
• This has now been confirmed, as the company was named 2020 Asia-Pacific Fixed Broadband Service Provider of the year by Frost & Sullivan, a consultant on business and business research with over 50 years of experience. This underscores the dedication of AIS Fibre throughout 2020 of delivering the best possible service to customers. AIS Fibre is the first home broadband internet service provider to receive this award, garnering the highest scores compared to other service providers in 8 Asia Pacific markets.
• The company is making strides into 2021 with an announcement to upgrade the home internet experience to a superior level for Thai people in The New Normal. The target in 2021 is to make the top three of Thai industry leaders in broadband internet, growing the user base by a minimum of 20% to support future growth opportunities for home internet.

Mr.Kitti Ngarmchatetanarom, Head of Fixed Broadband Department at AIS, said that modern Thai users were habituated to constant internet connection both at home and outside, and even more so when dealing with the Covid-19 epidemic since the start of 2020. This caused a spike in demand for internet, which could be seen from the overall service use of AIS Fibre. Despite the risk factor of Covid-19, growth had been outstanding both in terms of revenue and customer numbers. In the third quarter, the number of customers increased by 4.4, on the same quarter last year, counted as strong growth above the market which grew only 1.2%. The concept Forward, Better, Simpler covers three aspects in providing a quality home internet experience to Thai people:

• "Forward" is about the rapid deployment of cutting-edge technology to create a new industry standard, as the first and only of its kind in Thailand since it started providing service. 100% fiber optic technology has been used to provide service throughout, and Dual Bandwidth technology with two separate routers provides the best gaming experience. AIS Fibre WiFi6 Upgrade Kit is the first upgrade in Thailand for home Wi-Fi, to be faster with less interruption, and reduced interference. A new special package has been issued for pro gamers, the Power 4 Online Special Package, a BYOD home internet package allowing customers to select their router according to their favorite lifestyle.
• "Better", is upgrading service provision to be superior and create new standards of home internet or the first time in Thailand. Good quality Wi-Fi is available in the whole house from the first day of installation with AIS Fibre MESH WiFi. For the first time in Thailand, customers can add MESH WiFi to every packag for superior service. AIS Fibre Guru boosts confidence for customers before they install, enabling them to use the service for free.
• Simple is about customers using the latest easy-to-use technology such as Speed Toggle. Customers of AIS Fibre can adjust the internet speed for themselves. They can also open communications channels through AIS Fibre Line Connect, enabling customers to do this by themselves, with easy contact through familiar online channels.

At latest, all the effort, invention and building of home internet service for Thai people has paid off with AIS fiber receiving the award of 2020 Asia Pacific Fixed Broadband Service Provider of the Year, guaranteed by Frost & Sullivan, a consultant in business and business research with over 50 years of experience. AIS Fibre is the first ever broadband internet service provider in Thailand to have received this award, as well as maximum points compared to other service providers in eight other countries of the United States and the Asia Pacific.

The criteria of the Frost and Sullivan Best Practices Awards 2020, which AIS Fibre was able to win, are as follows.

The Financial Performance of AIS Fibre has been outstanding. Throughout 2019, AIS Fibre's revenues increased by 29% and it was able to increase the customer user base by 42.1% year on year, giving AIS Fibre increased market share of 10%, despite getting into the market much later than other providers. It was able to increase market share a great, deal compared to other service providers in the Asia Pacific region.

Implementation of Best Practice is being the top-ranked leader of innovation in the Thai industry. AIS Fibre has pioneered the rollout of 100% fiber optic technology to cover all 77 provinces, with over 1.04 million service users in 2019. The company has also issued the SuperMESH WiFi package which enhances efficiency of signal transmission, to be fast, strong and covering all installed areas. There is no need to install a LAN cable, with up to eight device connections available. There is cooperation with Huawei to level up SuperMESH WiFi and routers to the next level, enabling maximum bandwidth of 1 Gbps on Wi-Fi in the Thai market for the first time.

Visionary through Mega Trends: This is the vision that is consistent with global trends. AIS, the parent company of AIS Fibre, is rolling out products, and has a plan to launch 5G fixed wireless access to service users, to underline leadership in 5G innovation. AIS is among 24 service providers in the Asia Pacific region which have already launched 5G.

Customer Service Experience is the determination to deliver the best possible experience to customers. AIS Fibre has given priority to the behavior of service users, and is determined to develop services to meet the needs of customers. For instance, Speed Toggle is the first service in Thailand enabling customers to adjust the speeds of download and upload as they need to increase efficiency. Dual Bandwidth separates internet pipelines for home use and for gaming with full speed for both pipes despite them being used at the same time, for the best experience for gamers. Meanwhile, AIS has cooperated with SK Telecom, a service provider from South Korea, and Singtel in Singapore, to launch a game platform in a joint venture with a user base of gamers of about 800 million people worldwide. This shows the company's capabilities in improving the user experience through partnerships and the development of innovation to meet the needs of each customer group.

Expressing Unmet Needs with the 5G network, is helping provide us to deliver 5G fixed wireless access solutions at locations which AIS Fibre does not reach. In the Asia Pacific region in particular, there are a great many rural and remote areas. AISs is ready to launch 5G fixed wireless access for Enterprise customers, and to upgrade the wireless network experience by using 5G technology.

Brand Equity or Creating Continuous Brand Value: AIS Fibre has retained its customer base with the intention to create a good image alongside the development of quality products and services. Quality and standards have been guaranteed with a global level award such as that of Ookla(R) Speedtest(R), one of the top internet speed benchmarking service providers in the world. AIS also won the title of Thailand's fastest ISP in 2019.

In 2021, AIS Fibre will continue to develop quality services to provide the best possible home internet services to Thai people. This will mean expanded service coverage to cover all 77 Thai provinces, to support Thai people's digital lifestyles to access home internet more easily than before. There will be an expansion of distribution channels with leading partners, both telecom shops and non-teelcom shops, such as Jmart, TG, Powerbuy, PowerMall, iStudio, .life, AIS Corner @ Family Mart, AIS Corner@Tops Daily, AIS Corner@Mini BigC and Thailand Post. Customers can apply for the AIS Fibre service easily and more conveniently than before. Maintenance is proactive following up every issue of the customer closely with modern technology house by house, while even solving problems thoroughly while customers are unaware. There are continuous offers of new services and innovations to underline leadership of Internet innovation for quality broadband to be number one in Thailand, and giving excellent after sales service, for the best user experience. Services are provided by a team of quality engineers who have passed Certification FTTx Course and Workers for Advanced Wireless Network, in cooperation with the Department of Electrical Communications Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, and the Electrical Technology Expertise Center of the Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, the first of its kind in Thailand.

On behalf of AIS Fibre, we are delighted to represent Thai corporations in creating a reputation for the country, because this award is a contest with various Asia Pacific countries. The company maintains its position to deliver a service which is Better, Forward and simpler, as a Digital Life Service Provider supporting the future progress of the country's digital economy.

About AIS FibreAIS Fibre is a high-speed broadband internet service provided by Advanced Info Service Public Company Limited (AIS). AIS is the leading Digital Life Service Provider on the most frequency bands, including 1450MHz, with over 40.9 million subscribers (as of September 2020). AIS Fibre launched in 2015, and transformed the home broadband internet market by being the first to use 100% fibre optic technology. The network has now been expanded to cover all 77 provinces of Thailand with over 1.26 million subscribers (as of September 2020), the fastest service rollout ever. The company is dedicated to constant cutting-edge innovation to deliver high-quality service and the best possible user experience to its customers.

About Frost & SullivanFrost & Sullivan is a consulting company in business and business research with over 50 years of experience that is widely trusted by over 1,000 international companies and investors in over 40 countries.