Anukul Tamprasirt, president of ATSI, said that the agency was negotiating with local partners such as CAT Telecom to raise funds to build the city in hopes of encouraging the development of digital content.

He said that the DCC would utilise information technology from four groups or clusters to create a digital content industry for electronic publishing, design, mobility and content. The clusters would drive various businesses that use information technology to customise products and services for businesses such as the fashion, auto, telecom, logistic and tourism sectors.

"The agency is looking at the private sector to invest in the Digital Content City project. It will ask the government to support the project so that both the private sector and the government can create a digital content industry and thus promote business for the international marketplace," said Anukul.

Yodchai Kaewpensri, vice president of CAT Telecom, said that the firm planned to invest in the project because it realised that digital content would be the market trend of e-business. CAT Telecom expects to garner more than Bt10 billion in e-business revenue over the next five years.

He said that the firm hoped the state in the near future would use digital content to support electronic-government projects, and that the value of digital content created in Thailand would exceed Bt100 billion in these five years.

CAT Telecom plans to invest more than Bt10 billion in digital content in the next three years. Initially, it would this year set up a CAT Channel to provide Internet Protocol Television (CAT IPTV) to its customers using the broadband infrastructure.

Anukul said that the ATSI expected that DCC would encourage local developers to develop software that meets international standards and customer requirements such as multimedia, animation software, edutainment software and mobility software.

Yodchai said that local software developers already had the potential and IT skills to develop digital content but were currently unable to integrate and implement their ideas to develop innovative new technology services and products. 

Jirapan Boonnoon

The Nation