First-year students at 27,231 public schools countrywide will be able to access high speed internet from their classrooms by the start of the new academic year in June, using the government provided tablet PCs.

Thailand’s Ministry of ICT signed a contract with TOT and CAT Telecom—the two state-owned telcos to cover 27,231 schools countrywide with Wi-Fi network to support the government’s One Tablet Per Child programme, said ICT Minister Gp Capt Anudith Nakornthap.

The two telcos and the MICT will work on establishing network under a joint-venture collaboration with the total budget of THB 1.76 billion (US$ 58.69 million). The network will equip the schools with Wi-Fi internet at the speed of 4-10 Mbps, he added.

“Off 27,231 schools, the TOT will be responsible for the network of 26,889 schools, while CAT Telecom will provide the network to another 342 schools,” he said and added that the project will be finished by 300 days after the date of signing the contract.

Next year, the MICT planned to expand the network to cover up to 43,258 schools with the planned budget of THB 4.25 billion (US$ 141.74 million). The network will be built on the centralised managment network of Education Ministry or known as ‘MOENet’. Authorised users of the network include teachers, students, school staff and general public who have registered under ICT Free Wi-Fi programme, according to the minister.

This move is under Smart Network scheme—a pillar of Smart Thailand projects to drive the country’s growth with ICT. Last year, the MICT already purchased and distributed up to 858,886 tablets to the first graders at 27,231 elementary schools under Office of Basic Education Commission countrywide.

Without access to the internet at the first phase of the project last year, students and teachers used off line mode during the classes with pre-loaded educational materials.