The news was confirmed by a staffer at the Phuket office of National Telecom PLC, the newly formed merger of the TOT Thailand and CAT Telecom public companies that came into operation last year.
Internet connection speeds across Phuket have slowed noticeably over recent weeks, with dropped connections and very slow loading times for web pages.
The slowdowns started as the “Work From Home” policy came into effect, and as schools were closed, forcing children to move to online classes. (Most schools in Phuket resumed on-site classes today, Jan 16).
Attempts by The Phuket News to confirm the status of internet connection speeds from the Phuket office of the Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA) proved unsuccessful.
The main telephone number to the Phuket office (076-379111) is out of service. The Phuket News managed to contact a person at the national DEPA headquarters in Bangkok, who directed to call the “main number of DEPA Phuket” 081-9560951, which directed The Phuket News to call Nuttaphong Sutsadeedet of the DEPA Phuket office on his personal number.
Mr Nuttaphong, however, said that DEPA Phuket does not have information on internet connection speeds in Phuket as “DEPA is not an internet provider that provides internet to people.”
Asked whether the DEPA is the actual agency responsible for promoting Phuket as an IT Hub and “Smart City”, Mr Nuttaphong replied, “Yes, DEPA is responsible for them [those projects] and most DEPA projects are to stimulate the economy, but not for internet connection speeds.”
Asked what does DEPA tell potential investors about connection speeds in Phuket, Mr Nuttaphong said, “Please ask NT [National Telecom] or an internet provider.”
A staffer at the Phuket National Telecom office was able to confirm that Phuket internet connection speeds have been suffering following a recent surge in internet usage.
The staffer, who declined to give his name, also declined to provide any actual data reports confirming the surge in internet usage, but he said he was not permitted to release the data.
“It has increased a lot, by about 25%,” he said.
The staffer did advise users to check their internet connection inside their house before lodging any complaints.
People were urged to check the routers, cable connections and Wi-Fi devices to make sure they were working properly.
The staffer also noted that slower connection speeds were most common during the “peak hours” between 7pm and 9pm on the “cheaper” packages provided by internet providers.
He made no mention of connection speeds affecting businesses during the daytime.