The information-technology industry has urged the incoming Information and Communication Technology Minister to quickly kick off 3G broadband services and to pay attention to local content and software-development issues.

The industry has welcomed the Pheu Thai Party's election promise to give free tablet computers to middle-school children, but says local content should be offered along with the tablets.

Association of Thai ICT Industry (ATCI) president Adirake Patitus said his association had proposed a number of measures to the ICT Ministry this week, with a request for action: promotion and support of the local ICT industry by providing both wired and wireless broadband availability throughout the country; encouragement of the use by government organisations of more technology to increase their productivity; and supporting business-sector investment in software by allowing companies to reclaim their software investment within one year rather than the present five years. This will encourage more investment in software by the business sector and create huge demand for software and IT in Thailand, he said.

"If each company spends an average of Bt5 million on software, around 1,000 companies would spend a total of about Bt5 billion. That is a market big enough for local software companies," Adirake said.

Regarding the free tablet scheme, Adirake said it sounded good, as long as the government provided content along with the tablets, because this would simultaneously encourage the local content industry.

However, he urged the new government to formulate a plan to build and prepare the ICT industry so that it is ready to compete with industries in other countries when the Asean Economic Community is implemented in 2015.

Thai Embedded System Association president Apinetr Unakul said the new ICT Minister should make 3G availability an urgent agenda, since a broadband network is a fundamental infrastructure from which all business sectors will benefit.

Moreover, the ICT Minister should appoint "the right man" to oversee recently established organisations under the ICT Ministry to ensue that these organisations drive local ICT development as efficiently as possible.

"In the past, the country lost chances and competitiveness because we did not have wide-coverage by a broadband network. Right now, a telecom network is a must for every part of society - government, industry and social. We want the government to do this first," Apinetr said.

Thai Software Export Promotion Association president Pirasan Punyagupta said his association wanted the government to support local software entrepreneurs with funding and marketing support, so they would be ready to compete in the wider Asean market within the next few years.

He agreed with other industry spokesmen, that availability of a broadband network throughout the country should be made an urgent agenda. Many nearby countries have moved forward and made high-speed networks available, encouraging greater use of ICT - both hardware and software - and increasing their business competitiveness, he said, adding that Thai software exports and the software industry generally would benefit from the availability of a nationwide broadband network.

"The free-tablet scheme will be successful if a broadband network is widely available and if the government drives local content development. Tablets on their own will be of no use. They need digital content such as e-books, so the government should support local-content development as well," Pirasan said.

Association of Thai Software Industry former president Somkiat Ungaree, who is also managing director of IT training firm Senior Com, echoed the opinion that the new ICT Minister should make a nationwide broadband network a matter of urgency.

"From my point of view, the free-tablet project will be good if the government also promotes local content and applications to serve education. It will encourage the whole ecosystem," Somkiat said.

Meanwhile, the chairman of Sripatum University's ICT Policy Committee, Manoo Ordeedolchest, said the new government should have mid- and long-term ICT plans to prepare local ICT businesses for the Asean Economic Community in 2015.

Under the economic community's mutual recognition agreement, there will be a free flow of skilled labour and professionals, and if the government has no plans for dealing with this, "Thai brains" will flow out of the country while cheap IT labour will flood the local ICT market.

Manoo said the free-tablet project should go along with reforming the education learning and teaching process. It is not only a matter of having a network and the devices available, the government should change the mindset of more than 100,000 teachers about the teaching process, in order to make the scheme successful, he said.

Pheu Thai Party's deputy leader Kanawat Wasinsangworn told a seminar about ICT Policy hosted by the Information and Technology Press Club last month that his party's ICT policy focused on three main things: First, making a high-speed broadband Internet network - including both fixed and wireless connections - available throughout the country as soon as possible. This implies an offer of free Wi-Fi services in public areas, including schools, communities, governmental areas and tourism places, and making 3G networks available as soon as possible, he said.

Second, is increasing computer literacy, with a project of training people to use e-mail and moving forward with ICT Community Centres by aiming to make them into e-commerce hubs in communities throughout the country. This project will be conducted on a public-private partnership model, he said.

The third policy is providing free tablet computers with courseware to all 800,000 students at prathom 1 level. He said this project aimed to increase and improve the quality of education in the country, and would require a budget of Bt5 billion.

There are three known candidates for the post of ICT Minister in the new government. They are Kanawat Wasinsangworn, Boonsong Teriyaphirom and Surapong Towichukchaikul.

Former ICT ministers

There have been nine Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Ministers in recent years. They were:

1. Surapong Suebwonglee (Thaksin government)

2. Suwit Khunkitti (Thaksin government)

3. Sora-at Klinprathum (Thaksin government)

4. Suchai Charoenratanakul (Thaksin government)

5. Sitthichai Pokai-udom (Surayud government)

6. Kosit Panpiemras (Surayud government)

7. Mun Patanothai (Somchai government)

8. Ranongruk Suwanchawee (Abhisit government)

9. Chuti Krairiksh (Abhisit government)

Main policies

Phue Thai Party's three main ICT policies are:

1. Broadband Internet: free Wi-Fi, 3G network available, wide-coverage by high-speed Internet network.

2. Computer literacy: public training in the use of e-mail, making ICT Community Centres into e-Commerce Community Centres.

3. Free tablet computers with courseware for students at prathom 1 level, with a budget of Bt5 billion