(Photo by Apichart Jinakul)

The telecom regulator has given more details and tips on registering for 30-day free mobile internet and broadband speed upgrade ahead of the registration on Friday.

The measure supports government policies of encouraging people to working from home and helping people cut utility bills during the spread of coronavirus.

It is financed by the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USO) of which money comes from telecom licence auctions and contributions by telecom and broadcasting operators.

For free mobile internet, the registration starts from Friday to April 30. Each Thai national can register for free 10 gigabytes of mobile data for one mobile number, which must be opened or registered before or on March 31.

Those who use monthly packages with more than 10 GB or unlimited data, or the numbers registered by juristic persons, are not eligible.

To register, a user types *170*[13-digit ID number]# and taps “call”.

After a short while, he will receive a text message confirming or rejecting the registration. In the latter case, a reason will be given. If the registration is successful, he can start using the free internet in a few minutes.

Takorn Tantasith, secretary-general of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) shared tips on how to make the most of the offer in a clip on the NBTC Facebook on Thursday.

He said a user should first check how much data he currently gets under his package by typing *165*1# and tapping “call”.

After that, he should also check the remaining time of the package (*165*2#).

If, for example, the existing package ends on April 15, the user is advised against registering on the first day of the registration on Friday. Instead, he should wait until his package ends and register on the following day, or on April 16, so he can use the free internet until May 15.

For broadband internet users, service providers will upgrade speeds to 100 megabits per second automatically on Friday so users do not need to register. The speed upgrade is valid for 30 days from April 10, he said.

Those who use ADSL or older techonologies will also receive an upgrade to the highest speeds supported by equipment.