Thailand is in the middle of the pack in terms of digital technology adoption, with internet traffic estimated to triple by 2021 and mobile internet usage per person per month increasing nearly four times over that period thanks to the popularity of video and augmented reality content, says US-based networking firm Cisco Systems.
Vatsun: Disruption picking up steam
"By 2021, there will be 100 million mobile subscribers in Thailand, up from 89 million in 2016, of which 23% were on 4G in 2016," said Vatsun Thirapatarapong, managing director of Cisco in Thailand and Indochina.
Comparing 2016 with 2021, internet users in Thailand will jump from 33% of the population to 40%, devices and connections per person from 1.5 to 1.9, average internet speed will increase from 28.2 megabits per second (Mpbs) to 45.7 Mbps, and average traffic per person per month will increase from 5.5GB to 18.9GB.
Fixed broadband will increase from 7.4 million in 2016 to 8.9 million in 2021. Video content generated from HD and ultra-HD will require upgraded network capacity and speed.
As digital adoption grows rapidly, both Thailand and the wider world will also face more distributed denial of service attacks, which Cisco predicts will grow by 150%.
The most recent 2017-2018 edition of the Global Competitiveness Report by the World Economic Forum, assessing 137 economies, ranked Thailand 32nd behind Singapore, which ranked third and Malaysia 23rd.
Citing an IMD International Institute for Management study, "Life in the Digital vortex 20017", Mr Vatsun said the five most vulnerable industries are media and entertainment, technology products and services, retail, financial services and telecommunications.
The pace of disruption is accelerating across industries due to faster digital technology innovation cycles, the explosion of well-funded startups and the rise of Chinese giants.
To cash in on the needs of digital transformation, he said Cisco has gone beyond networking firms to provide recurring revenue in software and subscription service technology for secure intelligent platforms, serving digital businesses.
The company will focus on internet-based networking systems that employ machine learning for automated network software implementation.
"The number of devices is increasing rapidly due to the Internet of Things (IoT), so it's hard for network configuration [in terms of] setting up devices through software defined access. This new technology will enable faster device configuration," he said.
Multi-cloud transformation will gain more momentum that allows those hybrid cloud businesses to manage their workloads more flexibly and cut down on costs through multi-cloud service providers.
Cisco is also focusing on data analytics through Kinetic IoT platforms and visibility of app performance through the acquisition of AppDynamic.
The company also foresees the needs for technology that can improve customer experience through artificial intelligence platforms such as travel booking chatbots.
Cisco has also established a digital transformation business development team to target financial services, insurance, oil and gas and manufacturing.
"In Asean, we will roll out in Singapore and Thailand first, as both are among top tier markets that have been successful this year," said Mr Vatsun.
