As Data Usage Doubles in Field Hospitals dtac Deploys Free Wi-Fi

dtac continues to support the work of public health personnel handling the COVID-19 situation. The rapid response team deployed base stations, mobile stations, and free dtac@Home Wi-Fi in field hospitals and surrounding areas. This includes the Bangkok Arena, now transformed into Erawan-2 Field Hospital with 350 beds. data usage doubled since the opening of field hospitals.

dtac Reveal Key Usage Data in Field Hospitals as Follow:

Peak hours for data usage are from 18:00 – 21:00 Hrs.

The most popular apps are 1. Facebook, 2. Youtube, 3. Tiktok, 4. Instagram, 5. Line and 6. Netflix.

Data usage approximately doubled in field hospitals.

Provinces with highest data usage in field hospitals: 1. Bangkok., 2. Chiang Mai and 3. Samut Sakhon.

dtac has set up a rapid response team to deploy high-speed internet at every field hospital across Thailand for seamless communications during this crisis. They include the Thammasat Field Hospital, Rangsit Campus; Field Hospital in the 7th Cycle Celebration Building of the Chiang Mai International Exhibition & Convention Centre, Chalermphrakiat Sports Centre Field Hospital in Mae Cho district, Chiang Mai province; the Federation of Thai Industries Field Hospital (10th Sakhon People Care Center) in Samut Sakhon; and the Nonthaburi Field Hospital at Nonthaburi Wittayalai School.

Dr. Supaporn Kornluck, Deputy Director of the Medical Service Department, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), said, “For COVID-19 patients, closely monitoring their symptoms is crucial. Doctors need to know of patients’ temperature, blood pressure, blood oxygen level in conjunction with other conditions regularly each day to determine the proper treatment. However, due to the need for social distancing to reduce touch and the inadvertent spread of the disease, doctors will not meet the patients directly in person. This is where video conferencing is essential in enabling field hospital medical teams to ‘see’ their patients remotely. Internet connectivity plays a crucial role in bridging the gap in access to patients, making treatment and monitoring more efficient. Moreover, the doctors, nurses, all the personnel, including the patients in the field hospitals can use the internet to connect to their families or access apps for other productivities.”

Mr. Prathet Tankuranun, Chief Technology Officer, Total Access Communication PLC or dtac, said, “dtac has deployed a rapid response team to deliver high-speed internet within 24-hours where it is needed to support the work of doctors, nurses, medical and non-medical personnel working to contain the spread of COVID-19 and care for the patients. We have rapid-deployment base stations and mobile base stations for field hospitals. We continuously expand mobile coverage with 4G-TDD services featuring Massive MIMO technology for triple the data capacity. We are also using our 700 MHz low-frequency network to provide even greater coverage indoors and in the rural areas, contributing to a superlative network experience for users to connect to what matters most.”

For both patients and frontline workers, dtac also launched free Wi-Fi in field hospitals using dtac@Home – an easy-to-install box set system that requires no cable installation. dtac@Home is now available at:

Bang Khun Thian Geriatric Hospital, Bang Khun Thian district, Bangkok.

Rachaphiphat Hospital, Thawi Wattana District, Bangkok.

Geriatric Medical Center, Medical Service Department, Bangkok.

COVID-19 Patient Referral Support Center, Military Support Services Department, Bangkok.

Phra Phrom Field Hospital, Phra Phrom district, Nakhon Si Thammarat province.

dtac is committed to connecting people to what matters most and empowering Thai society in this difficult time.