DTAC, Thailand's second largest mobile operator by subscribers, has revealed plans to increase its data network capacity by 30% this month and complete the upgrade of its entire 10,000 base station GSM network with EDGE technology in April, the Bangkok Post reports.

The network is known to be at least 95% EDGE-enabled already, whilst the data capacity expansion is expected to allow DTAC to accommodate more than 300,000 users simultaneously.

Pakorn Pannachet, head of DTAC's value-added service division, said the company expected the number of its data users to increase by one million to five million by the end of this year, fuelled by an expected increase of between 30% and 40% in smartphone handset sales.

The operator also expects data revenues to contribute more than 10% of its total earnings this year, a slight increase from 2009.