November 19,2025, Bangkok, It's a great honor to once again participate in the Telecom World Asia conference in Bangkok, hosted by Singapore's Terrapinn. Against the backdrop of the global transformation of telecom operators, what sparks of insight might come from the showfloor?
This conference, as always, has attracted numerous operators from Southeast Asia and across the continent. China Telecom and China Unicom are both major sponsors of the event. Local Thai operators such as AIS, True, NT, and Interlink were present, along with operators from the Philippines PLDT, Malaysia's YTL, the Axiata Group, dark fibre operator CST, Japan's KDDI, NTT Data, Rakuten Mobile, and Bahrain Telecom, among others. These are just a fraction of the participating telecom operators glimpsed during our editorial tour. The ability to densely gather telecom operators from across Asia is the standout feature of this conference.
Although fibre optic communication is not the main topic of discussion at this conference, it still attracted participation from many optical communication manufacturers like Nokia, Ribbon, CommScope, and GLSUN (Guilin,China). Nokia's booth featured their 1830 Photonic Service Switches, while CommScope's booth displayed their full range of fibre optic cabling products. First-time exhibitor GLSUN attracted significant attention with their product series, including OCS switches, various optical switches, and laser components. Gift bags from another company, DECAAT from Suzhou, a manufacturer of fibre fusion splicers and various tools, were also very popular.
At the Caspera.Lab booth, the founder, a former CIO of France Télécom, patiently explained to our editor the meaning behind the company name. It signifies a platform, a new era, and all kinds of innovation. The initial 'C' might stand for Communication, or perhaps something else – it was hard to recall on the spot. Although they also provide transformation consulting in other fields, their deep roots in France Télécom naturally focus their primary attention on the transformation of telecom operators. Their slogan, "Shifting from Telecom to Techno," echoed a major topic from last year's exhibition. In the AI era, global telecom operators, including Orange (formerly France Télécom), face profound demands for change. For today's operators, AI is a challenge but even more so an opportunity. Consequently, there were many AI-related sessions throughout the two-day conference.
What most captivated our editor was a speech by a senior executive from Thailand's National Telecom. His theme was how Thailand can become a digital transformation hub. He pointed out in his speech that Thailand already has well-established fibre and wireless network infrastructure. However, compared to Malaysia and Vietnam, improvements are needed in power pricing for data centres, and particularly regarding submarine cable landing points compared to Malaysia. Nevertheless, they are prepared to catch up. Recent reports quote Mrs. Supatra, Vice President of the Thai Data Center Association, stating that Thailand's stable power and water supply are attracting significant new data centre investments. She forecasts Thailand's computing power capacity will increase from 350 MW in 2024 to about 1 GW by 2027.
The booming economy of Southeast Asia brings continuously growing opportunities for the telecom industry. This was precisely what the manager of a Chinese-owned company in Bangkok, which provides engineering services to telecom operators, told our editor yesterday morning. While Thailand's telecom sector may not offer explosive growth opportunities, the demand is robust and continuous, promising considerable profits with proper management. Thailand's telecom industry is a microcosm of the developing Asian telecom sector. The 2025 Bangkok Telecom World Asia conference signals the future of the Asian telecom industry.