AIS Deploys Carrier Aggregation to Beat the Upload Bottleneck
Advanced Info Service, Thailand's largest mobile operator, has switched on what it describes as Southeast Asia's first commercial 5G-Advanced network, built around the global 3GPP Release 18 specification. The core of the upgrade is carrier aggregation technology that combines multiple frequency bands at once, using a three-component downlink and a two-component uplink to push download speeds up to 1.5 times faster and upload speeds up to twice as fast as standard 5G. Devices that support the enhanced network display a "5G+" symbol on screen, and AIS says customers do not need to change packages or pay extra to use it, provided their handset is compatible.
Wasit Wattanasap, head of Nationwide Operations and Support at AIS, said the push into faster uploads reflects a shift in how Thai consumers use their phones, with livestreaming and AI-assisted applications driving demand that standard 5G networks, weighted toward downloads, were not built to handle. He noted the trend started in Thailand's northeastern provinces and has since spread to Bangkok, where even street vendors now livestream routinely while working. To close what engineers call the "uplink bottleneck," AIS pairs time-division duplex bands, which favour downloads, with frequency-division duplex bands such as 700 MHz and 2,100 MHz that offer a more balanced upload-to-download ratio.
Rollout Reaches Bangkok First, With Nationwide Coverage to Follow
The enhanced uplink capability is already active in Bangkok, the greater metropolitan area and the northeast, with AIS aiming for nationwide coverage within weeks of the launch. The faster three-component downlink, which delivers the biggest speed gains, is so far limited to Bangkok's Sathon and Bang Rak districts, with wider coverage across the capital planned later this year. AIS said bringing the technology to market required close coordination with chipset makers including Qualcomm and MediaTek and with handset brands, a process that took nearly a year of background testing; most modern Android phones already support the new features, while iPhone users have had partial support since an iOS update in February.
Beyond raw speed, AIS is folding artificial intelligence into network operations through what it calls an Autonomous Network programme, which the company has spent six to seven years developing with the goal of AI eventually handling most network management without human intervention. AIS, which serves more than 46.8 million mobile subscribers, positioned the 5G-Advanced launch as a stepping stone toward 6G, framing the current upgrade as part of a broader push to serve as Thailand's national digital infrastructure provider as demand for speed, stability and AI-linked connectivity keeps rising.
