Partner Content - AIS Deputy Chief: Excellent User Experience Requires an Excellent Network

AIS’s 5G network now covers more than 90% of Thailand’s population. In major cities like Bangkok, coverage is virtually 100% – quite a milestone for what is still a relatively young technology.

Coverage is one thing. User experience is another. Mark Chong Chin Kok, Deputy Chief Executive at AIS, says world-class customer experiences begin with world-class networks – which is why the company has continuously invested in its 5G capabilities.

“I think the first step in providing an excellent digital experience starts with an excellent network,” Mark said, speaking recently with Light Reading contributing editor Greg McIvor at WinWin Live. “But beyond having a good network, we also need to ensure that the network can deliver the necessary download speed, uplink speed, and the low latency that modern users such as gamers require.”

On the consumer side of the business, that’s led to service innovations such as AIS’s “Living Network,” a menu of three premium bandwidth modes that enables users to select – via the AIS mobile app – the experience most suitable to their needs.

The three modes include:

•         Boost Mode: This mode allows the user to increase their download speed at the tap of a button.

•         Live Mode: This mode gives users such as social media influencers – again via the tap of a button – the ability to increase their uplink speed for use cases such as sending or streaming high-density videos to a cloud environment.

•         Game Mode: Finally, this mode gives gaming users a low-latency option.

AIS charges customers 49 Thai baht for a three-hour session for each of the above premium modes.

On the enterprise side, AIS’ 5G investments are enabling the operator to offer business customers private networks or “quasi-private” networks purpose-built for the customer’s specific requirements, rather than a one-size-fits-all solution.

That means AIS can essentially build custom 5G networks for businesses and locations as varied as a mining site or a factory floor – as well as a wide range of other industry use cases.

Mark said that AIS has worked with Siam Cement Group, for example, to build a private 5G network that enables autonomous mining. Similarly, the operator worked with Siam Toyota Manufacturing, a Toyota Company to develop a solution that enables the automaker to measure the consistency of the electricity currents in its factories – a boon for the quality assurance of its machines.

Of course, just as commercial 5G use matures and reaches an inflection point, there are already myriad other emerging technologies on the horizon, such as 5G-Advanced, AI, machine learning, and intelligent network operations. This is generating a growing number of new and converging opportunities for operators like AIS, not only in how they serve their customers, but how they operate their own business.

“With the advent of AI, we started experimenting with certain solutions in a few areas,” Mark said. “One is in raising the productivity of our own staff, our employees. Another is actually in improving the cost efficiency of our operations.”

For one example, AIS launched a voice AI that can initiate and handle debt collections on the behalf of human agents. In its trial, AIS found that the AI robot was able to successfully collect as much overdue payments as human agents – and at a much lower cost. As a result, the firm is looking to expand its internal use of AI in customer service and other business functions.

“We intend to implement other AI solutions to improve our cost structure, improve our cost efficiencies, such as addressing call center transactions, lowering the cost of cost call center transactions, enabling AI chatbots,” Mark said.