Thailand moves up to 78th in World’s ICT development rankings

BANGKOK, Nov 16 (TNA) – Thanks to 4G growth, Thailand earns the 78th ranking in the ICT Development Index (IDI), said the report of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Secretary-General of the Office of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), Takorn Tantasith ฐากร ตัณฑสิทธิ์ said that ITU released the annual report on measuring the information society 2017, showing its IDI rankings among 176 countries. Thailand is ranked the 78th, up from 82nd last year as a result of an increase in number of mobile phone and mobile internet users, who benefit from frequency allocation policy and expansion of 3G/4G service. Mr Takorn said as part of the Universal Service Obligation (USO) project managed by the NBTC, broadband service access will be provided to remote areas. Apart from provision of the digital infrastructure, he said another challenge is to improve local people’s ICT skill. Public net centres will be set up in villages with staff available to support local internet users. Under the plan, ICT training will be provided to 500,000 people across the country. With all improvement, it is believed Thailand will be upgraded in the next ITU ranking, he added. (TNA)