1 April, 2020 – The COVID-19 outbreak is disrupting every aspect of our lives: how we educate our children, work together, and maintain social bonds. Every daily activity is now weighed against the imperative to stay healthy.
To control the virus’s spread, social distancing is keeping us away from colleagues, friends and family. And yet, at this time of anxiety, staying in touch with them has never been more important. That’s why, at dtac, our promise to connect customers to what matters most is more critical than ever.
Living under lockdown can be stressful, but dtac is working 24/7 to ensure that our 20.6 million customers need not worry about staying connected. dtac customers’ daily average internet usage has already soared from 9 hours to 12 this quarter. And more than 75 percent of that usage remains on social media and video streaming sites, which grew by nine and six percent respectively. But the fastest growth was in video conferencing and delivery apps, underscoring deep changes in our customers lives:
- High-traffic areas for data consumption is shifting from dense business districts to residential areas, where our customers need worry-free, secured networks for productivity apps and video conferencing, which saw double- and triple-digit growth in March.
- The jump in app usage for delivery services and online shopping tells us how much customers are relying on 24/7 mobile connectivity to provide critical essentials for their families, such as hot meals and groceries.
- More than half our customers are in vulnerable groups – day workers, migrant workers and the elderly – and we must continue to serve them through the channels available to them, which is why dtac has reopened more than 80 dtac Service Halls, critical to populations who are unbanked or digitally illiterate.
- In collaboration with universities and academic institutes nationwide, dtac delivers high-speed internet solutions to enable over 10 million educational staff, teachers and students to remain connected to one another and to access online learning platforms smoothly and efficiently.
- The higher number of calls to seek advice from the National Institute for Emergency Medicine and Department of Disease Control show how critical connectivity remains for the country’s health and safety.
In response to these changing behaviors, we are introducing HAPPY@HOME, today. It is a range of initiatives to best support our customers as they practice social distancing and stay at home.
- Free unlimited high-speed internet when using productivity and video conferencing apps from the Microsoft Office 365 suite and Zoom for 90 days.
- A free 10GB allowance for Thai citizens starting from April 10, as per the conditions stipulated by the NBTC.
- For prepaid customers Jaidee Borrow or Emergency Refill are available with better benefits at the same service rate. Moreover, Jaidee Balance Transfer allows call credit transfer for friends or family. This is critical to refill the balance on an elderly parent’s device, for example.
- Customized internet solutions for students practicing distance learning. In addition to our network support to many universities across Thailand, and in collaboration with our industry partners, dtac also offers students an unlimited speed internet package of 4Mbps with no speed reduction for only 400 baht for three months.
- Special privileges from dtac reward every Friday, offering discounted rates for food delivery via foodpanda and GET, from this Friday onwards.
- Free COVID-19 insurance with maximum coverage of 255,000 baht for prepaid and postpaid customers who apply for an add-on internet package.
- 24-hour free calls to 1669 National Institute for Emergency Medicine and 1422 Department of Disease Control.
It’s a fast-moving situation and we’ll be continuing to adapt our responses around the clock to connect you to what matters most.
Stay home, stay safe and stay connected.
How Lih Ren
Chief Marketing Officer, dtac