3G Internet Thailand News

[Admin]

3G deal with Real Move will enable CAT to gain Bt14 bn
By USANEE MONGKOLPORN
The Nation 2011-02-14

CAT Telecom is estimated to gain at least Bt14 billion in revenue from leasing the planned wholesale 3G service capacity to True Corp's Real Move throughout the 14-year contract term, a CAT source said.

The source added that the figure is based on CAT's estimation of the net present value of the planned 3G-High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) wholesale service capacity business.

CAT will lease the planned HSPA network from BKFT (Thailand) of True's subsidiary Real Future. Then CAT will mark up between 20 per cent to 22 per cent on this network leasing fee as the price of the wholesale capacity it will lease to Real Move, the CAT source added.

True's chief executive officer Supachai Chearavanont said CAT would gain more benefits from the 3G partnership with True than if CAT opts to do this business on its own.

According to the wholesale-resale deal, Real Move can lease a maximum of 80 per cent of the planned HSPA nationwide network capacity during the first three years for resale. CAT will resell the remaining amount on its own and sell it as wholesale to other resellers.

Supachai said True's cellular flagship company TrueMove would migrate heavy mobile data users to the upcoming HSPA network. They are still mulling options for heavy voice users. He said that once TrueMove's concession ends in 2013, it will have to return 1,800MHz spectrum to the National Broadcasting and Telecomm-unications Commission (NBTC) and TrueMove might have to bid for the 1,800MHz spectrum licence from the NBTC to continue to provide service.

He said the 15MHz bandwidth of the 850MHz spectrum that CAT would allocate to Real Move to provide HSPA service might not be enough to serve the |heavy-data customers in the long term.

The four main contracts CAT granted to True subsidiaries Real Move and Real Future on January 27 marked their partnership in the HSPA service but at the same time raised doubts about their legitimacy.

Some contracts contain the clause that if they are later found invalid or breach any law, the contractual parties will jointly make the efforts to correct them.

Supachai said that this clause was added due to concerns that the contracts might breach any upcoming NBTC regulations. He denied that it reflects concern that the contracts might contradict the 1992 Public-Private Joint Venture Act.

He said he had learned after signing the contracts that the appendix parts of some contracts are blank pages.

Some appendix of some contracts on the signing date are blank pages, which state that the contractual parties will jointly finish the details as soon as possible after the contract signing.

Supachai admitted that now he feels uncertain if the True-CAT collaboration in the 3G service would be smooth, following a series of questions about its legitimacy. If the two 3G related deals fall through, he hopes True could keep the code division multiple access (CDMA) related deals.

Besides the HSPA network leasing and the service resale deals, CAT granted a deal to BFKT to lease the CDMA network in 25 provinces to CAT. It also granted a deal to Real Move's Hutchison-CAT Wireless Multi-media to market the service on such network.

The Office of the Auditor-General last week advised the CAT board to either review the 3G service project or answer all of its doubts regarding the legitimacy of the deals.

[Admin]

3G network good to go in 2 months: CAT chief
By USANEE MONGKOLPORN
THE NATION
2011-02-16

CAT Telecom can switch on its third-generation HSPA network within two months, chief executive Jirayuth Rungsrithong said yesterday, shrugging off doubts over the deals the state enterprise made with True Corp.

CAT can start up the network service quickly as TrueMove is installing high-speed packet access (HSPA) equipment from its own network on to the code division multiple access (CDMA) network in 25 provinces of BFKT (Thailand) so that it will be HSPA-capable.

CAT will lease the HSPA network from BFKT of Real Future and wholesale capacity to reseller Real Move.

Jirayuth said Real Move and Real Future, both True Corp subsidiaries, and CAT had completed the appendices of some contracts they signed on January 27, and stressed that the appendices would benefit CAT.

The four main deals are for BFKT (Thailand) of Real Future to lease the HSPA network to CAT, for Real Move to resell the planned HSPA service, for BFKT to lease its CDMA network in 25 provinces to CAT, and for Hutchison-CAT Wireless Multimedia of Real Move to market the service on the CDMA network in 25 provinces.

On the signing date, Appendix 6 of the HSPA network lease between CAT and BFKT, regarding network capacity delivery in the first phase and the calculation of fines, was left blank. It just says the contractual parties will negotiate to finish this part as soon as possible.

Appendix 7, regarding the service-level agreement and fine calculation, was also left open.

Jirayuth said CAT was expected to gain at least Bt14 billion in revenue from reseller Real Move over the contract term of 14 years.

The deals CAT granted to the two firms raised questions about their legitimacy, including whether they have to come under the Public-Private Joint Venture Act of 1992.

Information and Communications Technology Minister Chuti Krairiksh sent a letter to the Attorney-General's Office last Friday asking for a ruling on whether the deals complied with all laws and regulations.

According to CAT, the new business would improve its EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation), which would be high enough to offset its loss of revenue when TrueMove's concession expires in 2013.

[Admin]

TOT's 3G plan stalls
By USANEE MONGKOLPORN
The Nation 2011-03-02

TOT's board will have to delay its plan this week to consider approving the 3G-network contract, following the resignation of one more director yesterday.

A TOT source said that when Sayan Satangmomgkol tendered his resignation, a political attempt was immediately made to lobby him to change his mind but he did not relent.

His exit, following the resignations of five directors last week, leaves only six directors on the board, not enough to form a quorum to consider key decisions this week.

The board can hold meetings if it has over half of the 12 directors plus TOT's president.

Now the board has only half of the directors and only an acting |president. Political pressure was reportedly brought to bear on TOT's board to hurry consideration of |the 3G contract, but Information and Communications Technology Minister Chuti Krairiksh has |denied it.

The resignation of directors recently follows pressure from many sides.

Chuti recently urged them to press claims for damages against Advanced Info Service for losses from the AIS concession amendments. AIS informed the TOT board it might consider taking legal action against each of the directors over the matter to defend its business.

TOT's board is waiting for an independent committee comprising representatives from other state agencies to give opinions on how to proceed with the plan to grant a contract to the SL consortium.

Though the e-auction for the project was won by the SL consortium led by Loxley-Samart, TOT has yet to sign a contract, pending examination by a TOT committee of the complaints filed by two bidders. The Ericsson-led consortium and the Forth Corp-ZTE consortium both believe they were unfairly disqualified from bidding.

The SL consortium won the auction on January 28 by quoting Bt16.29 billion - 6.59 per cent below the state enterprise's budget of Bt17.44 billion for the project.

The procurement committee then bargained the price down to Bt16 billion.

The Auditor-General's Office has already clarified in writing to TOT the points brought up by the disqualified bidders.

Another key matter to be considered by TOT's board this week is the appointment of a new president.

Its president selection committee plans to nominate TOT senior executive vice president Anont Tubtiang, who was the chairman of the 3G pre-qualification panel, for the post.

[Admin]

CAT blocks DTAC launch of 3G service
By USANEE MONGKOLPORN
The Nation 2011-04-01

CAT Telecom has further kept Total Access Communication from launching a commercial third-generation telecommunications service after DTAC has been waiting for such permission for many years.

CAT's board yesterday rejected DTAC's request, pending its readiness to accept the condition that it would not seek compensation from CAT for possible losses on its 3G service investment if the Cabinet decides to revoke DTAC's concession.

One telecom source wondered whether there was any hidden agenda, as it was strange that CAT raised such a condition in exchange for its permission. CAT had never mentioned this condition to DTAC before.

DTAC has waited for many years for CAT's nod to go ahead and launch the 3G-HSPA (high-speed packet access) service on its 850-megahertz spectrum. It is already providing a non-commercial 3G service on a trial basis with only 36 bases allowed by CAT.

CAT's board recently let DTAC expand the non-commercial service to 1,220 base stations across the country.

CAT chief executive officer Jirayuth Rungsrithong said it sent a letter to DTAC on March 17 informing the company that CAT would grant permission for commercial 3G service if it agreed first to the condition.

DTAC replied on Monday but CAT is still not satisfied with its answer, he said.

DTAC told CAT that it could accept the condition but only for possible damage to the planned 1,220 3G base stations. But Jirayuth said DTAC should expand its acceptance to cover "all its 3G investment", but declined to go into details.

Jirayuth denied that the board's refusal would benefit Real Move of True Corp, which is expected to launch its commercial 3G service on 850MHz this month.

Real Move would provide the service on a resale basis, unlike DTAC, which wants to provide the service under its existing CAT concession, he said.

The Information and Communications Technology Ministry committee charged with asking private telecom operators to pay compensation for their concession amendments would submit the results of the negotiations for the Cabinet's consideration soon.

DTAC plans capital expen?ditures this year of Bt6 billion to Bt7 billion, with some for network replacement and HSPA network expansion.

[manupete]

Thai telecom - carnal politics at its worst
Don Sambandaraksa  |   April 29, 2011
 Amitiae

There have been many attempts to try and make sense of the telco industry in Thailand; why state telco and concession holder CAT allowed TrueMove to take over Hutch and launch an HSPA 3G network and why fellow state telco TOT has been so slow in signing off the 3G expansion project bid that was won by a consortium of Nokia-Siemens and Huawei.

In the TOT case in particular, the board refused to sign off the project until a few days ago after something happened under the radar.

Both projects could land both state enterprise boards in deep trouble for irregularities. The CAT decision seems a blatant breach of the Constitution that calls for a moratorium on frequency reallocation until the NBTC is up and running, not to mention tilting the playing field in favour of TrueMove (or was it TrueMove H, or was it RealMove? And why have so many names at all?)

The TOT decision is bizarre in that ZTE was kicked out for offering too much network capacity in the technical round and was not allowed to bid. If ZTE wants to offer more capacity in an auction, what is to stop them? Well, the technical guys at TOT, that's who.

While many analysts have been left scratching their heads, the answer to everything is simple. It is an election year.

This is not about technology. This is not public policy. This is raw, carnal, money politics at its worst.

Someone is cashing in to raise funds for the election, plain and simple. Nobody cares about rule of law, due process, fair and level playing fields or any other concept that is remotely civilised. It is about money and the need for money in the run-up to the elections.

DTAC almost launched its own 3G network alongside fellow CAT concessionaire TrueMove. Almost. The clincher was that in order to be given CAT's blessing to do so, they would have to sign away their right to sue CAT in the future. DTAC's new CEO obviously has the guts to know enough is enough and pushed back, suing CAT in the administrative court to halt the TrueMove deal.

Some in DTAC say that the company only has to tell CAT that it is performing an in-band migration network upgrade rather than ask for permission. CAT, in its infinite wisdom, has neither said yes or no and is taking its time, five years and counting, to decide. That is regulation by running the clock out.

TrueMove/RealMove/TrueMove H (pick one, will you?) hit back, calling a press conference and painting itself as the kind, caring face of a Thai minnow battling for national pride and the rights of the poor one million Hutch users against the evil Telenorwegians.

Colourful rhetoric perhaps, but it sidesteps the question of True gaining a backdoor de-facto concession. Nor does it address the issue of how granting RealMove rights to do commercial 3G implicitly also allows TrueMove’s test network, on a different part of the 850 spectrum, to go commercial; spectrum that DTAC claims is overlapping 2.5 MHz of its old 1G AMPS network.

And where is the regulator, the valiant enlightened seven great ones (as they were coined by media) of the National Telecommunications Commission? One key role of a regulator is to guard industry from short-term politics, something they are obviously not doing. NTC Commissioner Natee Sukonrat has gone on record saying that 850 MHz an internal matter between CAT and its concessionaires.

It is an election year, people. Welcome to Thailand.

[Admin]

Contract granted, nationwide 3G to be in place mid-2012
By Usanee Mongkolporn
The Nation 2011-05-10

TOT is expected to complete the launch of its nationwide third-generation broadband network in the middle of next year after full services come online in Greater Bangkok and 13 major provinces in the middle of the fourth quarter this year.

The state agency yesterday officially granted a Bt15.99-billion contract to the SL consortium of Loxley and Samart to procure equipment for its plan to roll out the network nationwide on the 2.1-gigahertz spectrum.

TOT senior executive vice president Kamthorn Vaitayakul said management had also determined the qualifications of possible partners to help provide the 3G service on an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) basis, which could be divided into strategic MVNOs and general MVNOs.

MVNOs are companies without their own network that have leased the network or airtime of telecom operators to provide service. A strategic MVNO is one that joins with TOT to determine marketing plans, while a general MVNO just buys 3G phone numbers in bulk from TOT for resale.

Kamthorn said the MVNO details were expected to be concluded next month and TOT might need two strategic MVNOs.

Advanced Info Service, which holds a TOT concession, has been in talks with the agency on a possible MVNO deal.

Three phases

The network installation will be in three phases. The first two phases will be finished in 180 days after the contract signing and will focus on densely populated areas in Greater Bangkok and 13 provinces - Chon Buri, Rayong, Songkhla, Surat Thani, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Lampang, Phitsanulok, Udon Thani, Nakhon Ratchasima, Khon Kaen, and Nong Khai. The third phase will be the network's nationwide expansion.

TOT president Anont Tubtiang said the project was meant to be TOT's new revenue source.

The SL consortium will provide to TOT one core network, 4,772 base stations, one network management system, one value-added service system, one business support system, and a maintenance system.

The Office of the Auditor-General has not yet investigated whether TOT conducted the bidder-qualification process for the 3G network on a fair basis, after a complaint by the Ericsson-led consortium at the Central Administrative Court that it was unfairly disqualified from the January's bid process.

TOT has continued to insist that it can clarify all doubts and that the qualification process was conducted transparently.

Last week the TOT board selected a consortium of Bank of Ayudhya and UOB to provide loans for the project. The consortium offered a low interest rate with a 10-year repayment schedule. Of the total project value, 85-90 per cent will be financed by loans.

TOT debuted the existing 3G network in Greater Bangkok in late 2009 and has recruited five companies to provide the service on that network on an MVNO basis. The network, totalling 548 base stations, has about 200,000 subscribers.

TOT targets 1.3 million 3G service subscribers this year before the number rises to 7 million by 2015. It expects revenue of Bt1.7 billion from the 3G service this year before rising to Bt3.482 billion next year.

[Clasta]

Why are they at all considering 3G? If they haven't introduced 3G yet, why do it at all? Europe and most parts of the western world are now moving over to 4G. After using 3G for a couple of years in Sweden I can say it is OK, but it's not good enough, and when the whole country have the 3G available in 2-4 years from now, than the rest of the world will be ready for 5G maybe.
Save some money and skip 3G, go for 4G instead.

[manupete]

Why are they at all considering 3G? If they haven't introduced 3G yet, why do it at all? Europe and most parts of the western world are now moving over to 4G. After using 3G for a couple of years in Sweden I can say it is OK, but it's not good enough, and when the whole country have the 3G available in 2-4 years from now, than the rest of the world will be ready for 5G maybe.
Save some money and skip 3G, go for 4G instead.

You should know Thailand by now,why go straight to 4G when they can charge you 4G prices and supply you with the sub-standard 3G.

[Clasta]

Why are they at all considering 3G? If they haven't introduced 3G yet, why do it at all? Europe and most parts of the western world are now moving over to 4G. After using 3G for a couple of years in Sweden I can say it is OK, but it's not good enough, and when the whole country have the 3G available in 2-4 years from now, than the rest of the world will be ready for 5G maybe.
Save some money and skip 3G, go for 4G instead.

You should know Thailand by now,why go straight to 4G when they can charge you 4G prices and supply you with the sub-standard 3G.

Yes I understand why they do it, but it's still stupid. And I was foolish enough to believe they had 3G here in Buriram, so I bought a AIS 3G USB-modem with 7.2 Mb, and I have never had faster speed than up to 300 kbps, so much for that cost...

I just mean that the country should benefit much more if they could have good Internet all the way out in the villages too. First fiber to all major city's, than cable so most households could have at least ADSL, and for all others 4G.
For me as an Internet Marketer I know the potential Internet has and the future is Internet, no doubt about that. And Internet can creates thousands of online entrepreneurs and give people a good income source. And even if they don't speak English so very good, they still have a big enough market here in Thailand.

But I'm not in charge for this country so I as a farang have to take it the way it is, like it or not...   

[Admin]

HOW LONG THEY ARE GOING TO DISCUSS 3G?
JUST GIVE US HIGH SPEED INTERNET!   

ANALYSIS

3G deal will give True, CAT the edge
By Usanee Mongkolporn
The Nation 2011-05-23

But many more hurdles need to be cleared before the project can take off
The tie-up between CAT Telecom and True Corp to offer 3G cellular service could give both a competitive edge but their race to 3G supremacy still faces hurdles.

It still remains uncertain whether the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) will quickly grant permission to CAT to import High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) network equipment for the CAT-True 3G project.

The regulator has been treating 3G issues carefully, following a legal challenge to CAT's licensing authority last September.

CAT CEO Jirayuth Rungsrithong said the problem of import permission would be resolved soon.

"Wait and see. We'll have a solution good for everyone," he said.

A CAT source said CAT has already asked True to deal with the NTC on the issue. The NTC reportedly is divided on whether it could allow CAT to import the HSPA equipment.

Currently True's Real Move provides the 3G service under the CAT-True 3G deals using TrueMove's HSPA equipment.

However, CAT still needs the NTC to reissue the permit for TrueMove to use this equipment after the NTC withdrew the permit in February.

The NTC had allowed TrueMove to use the HSPA equipment in 2009 but last June, CAT requested the NTC to withdraw the permit after CAT discovered that TrueMove had installed some HSPA base stations outside of its permitted areas.

CAT's board had allowed TrueMove to re-use such equipment in January but the NTC formally informed CAT about withdrawal of its permit in February.

The NTC will discuss this week about reissuing the permit. It will also debate if the CAT-True deals breach the Frequency Allocation Act, which requires licence holders to use their spectra to provide services on their own, instead of having other parties do so.

"There's still a lot of issues in these deals," NTC member Suranan Wongvithayakamjorn said.

CAT and True's subsidiaries Real Move and Real Future entered these 3G tie-up deals in January. Real Future's BFKT (Thailand) will lease HSPA equipment to CAT to wholesale and resell HSPA services nationwide. Real Move will lease HSPA capacity from CAT to retail the services.

The Office of Attorney-General is probing the deals' legitimacy, while the National Anti-Corruption Commission is probing alleged misconduct by Jirayuth and CAT's board for allowing CAT to sign the deals with True Group. Last week, the Central Administrative Court also accepted for review the complaint of Total Access Communication (DTAC) that the CAT board's decision in January to allow CAT to sign the deals with True is unlawful.

While these legal issues could make it difficult for True to secure loans for 3G service development, True CEO Supachai Chearavanont keeps insisting that these issues will not side-track True's quest for loans.

True has secured a bridge loan of Bt6.3 billion, at an interest of Bt50 million per month, from Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), for BFKT to refinance debt.

Since the bridge loan is due on July 27, True Group sought a loan of Bt49 billion from a group of six banks to repay the SCB loan and finance the 3G business. The deals could give True a competitive advantage with its cost structure to provide the 3G service.

A telecom analyst said these deals are estimated to cost Real Future and Real Move combined only 10-15 per cent of their revenue.

The relatively low cost will let Real Move aggressively market the 3G service.

However, he does not think the advantage will cause a big shift in market share in the near term as Advanced Info Service (AIS) and DTAC still have decent voice network coverage.

The likely scenario is that heavy data users will go for Real Move's 3G services but continue to use AIS and DTAC's networks for voice. But this might hurt AIS and DTAC's data revenue to a certain extent.

The analyst said the only hope for AIS and DTAC to compete with the same regulatory cost structure as True is to clinch 3G-2.1GHz spectrum licences, which are expected to be issued late next year or early 2013 by the upcoming National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Comm-ission (NBTC).

Any delay in licensing would give True a longer head start and pose a higher risk for AIS and DTAC, the analyst added.

A AIS source said AIS has considered applying a similar model as the CAT-True deals to partner with TOT to provide the 3G-2.1GHz service on TOT's planned nationwide 3G network.

AIS has provided a commercial 3G service on a trial basis on its spectrum under its concession with TOT, while TrueMove and DTAC have provided the service on 850MHz on a non-commercial trial basis with CAT's consent.

DTAC is still waiting for CAT's nod to launch a commercial 3G service.

The CAT-True deals have also raised concern from scholars and NTC member Sudharma Yoonaidharma of a possible 3G monopoly for CAT-True, which True has strongly denied.

Sudharma said the market would see actual competition when the NBTC issues 3G spectrum licences, which would enable telecoms to compete with the same licensing regime and cost basis.

[Admin]

TOT to showcase its 3G service
By Usanee Mongkolporn
The Nation 2011-06-06

TOT plans a two-day showcase of its 3G service again on June 10 with the intention of emphasising that the government could make the dream of a nationwide 3G service in Thailand come true, a state agency source said.

The source added that the showcase will be a political attempt to highlight the government's performance ahead of the July 3 general election.

But the showcase will have to rely on TOT's existing network in Greater Bangkok as the first phase of TOT's rollout of new and nationwide 3G network would be finished in the next four months. The cost of the showcase is estimated at Bt5 million.

TOT introduced the 3G network on December 3, 2009 under the Abhisit Vejjajiva government. At that time, Ranongrak Suwanchawee of the Puea Pandin Party was the Information and Communications Technology Minister.

approval for 3g network

The Cabinet approved the TOT plan to roll out the 3G network nationwide last September. The current ICT Minister Chuti Krairiksh belongs to the Democrat Party.

The Cabinet approval for TOT's new network rollout came shortly after the Central Administrative Court issued an injunction last September against the National Telecommunications Commission's plan to auction the 3G-2.1GHz spectrum licences last September.

TOT is expected to complete the launch of its new 3G network in the middle of next year. The network installation in the first two phases will be finished in 180 days after May and will focus on Greater Bangkok and 13 provinces. The third phase will be the network's nationwide expansion.

TOT's plan to roll out the new nationwide 3G network was not smooth. On January 27, the Ericsson-led consortium filed a complaint at the Central Administrative Court that it was unfairly disqualified in TOT's bidder qualification process to procure the new 3G network. The court has ordered a judicial review.

TOT held the e-auction on January 29 when the SL consortium emerged as the winner. The state agency granted the deal to the consortium in May.

[Admin]

CAT makes move to speed up granting of NTC 3G permit
By Usanee Mongkolporn
The Nation 2011-06-11

CAT Telecom's official launch of its nationwide third-generation wireless broadband service, planned for the third quarter, will be delayed if the national telecom watchdog does not soon grant the long-awaited permit to install and use HSPA equipment, CAT chief executive officer Jirayuth Rungsrithong said yesterday.

In an effort to move the process along, the CAT board yesterday approved withdrawing one of the two points in its complaint to the Central Administrative Court against the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). CAT will withdraw that part of the complaint questioning the NTC's overall regulatory power, while maintaining a more specific complaint.

It is hoped this will make the NTC feel more confident of its authority so that it will quickly grant the permit for CAT to install and use HSPA (high-speed packet access) technology to provide 3G service.

But, Jirayuth said, CAT would first talk to the NTC next week to make sure withdrawing part of the court complaint will actually have the desired effect so that the 3G project can go ahead.

CAT now takes the position that the new Frequency Allocation Act, which took effect last December, did empower the NTC to act on behalf of the upcoming National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).

However, CAT will not withdraw the other the issue in its complaint, that the NTC has no authority to auction 3G licences for the 2.1-gigahertz spectrum.

Jirayuth said that if CAT were to withdraw both issues, it would risk legal repercussions.

Recently NTC commissioner Sudharma Yoonaidharma said that although the NTC now acts on the NBTC's behalf, this does not mean the NTC can do everything regarding 3G issues, given that there is still no telecom and broadcasting spectrum master plan.

In CAT's view, as specified in its court complaint last September, the present Constitution authorises the NBTC, not the NTC, to grant new spectrum licences.

Moreover, in its original complaint, it questioned the NTC's continuing existence, given that the 1997 charter, which gave birth to NTC, was scrapped by the coup in 2006.

With its authority thus questioned and before the court, the NTC has refused to grant CAT the permit it needs to set up the 3G-HSPA network.

Jirayuth said the telecom network suppliers have already imported the HSPA equipment.

CAT signed deals with True Corp's subsidiaries Real Move and Real Future in January to provide HSPA service jointly. The HSPA equipment is for Real Future subsidiary BFKT (Thailand) to lease to CAT for wholesale service.

CAT has already leased capacity to Real Move, using TrueMove's existing HSPA network.

In a related matter, the CAT board also approved divestment of CAT's 25-per-cent share in its telecom network provider concessionaire United Information Highway to UIH's major shareholder the Benchachinda Co.

CAT will gain Bt260 million from the share sales.

[Admin]

Telecom sector awaits anxiously next Govt's ICT policies
The Nation 2011-06-20

The Democrat and Pheu Thai parties have both made identical promises to ensure the quick and successful advent of the new national broadcasting and telecom watchdog, knowing that it is a key part in their ICT policy campaigns of promoting equal broadband service accessibility and fair competition in the telecom sector.

Telecom industrialists hope the parties can keep their promise, if one of them forms the government. They have been waiting for 3G spectrum licences for years to develop nationwide wireless broadband service and to enable them to compete on the same fair licensing system. Currently they operate under TOT and CAT Telecom concessions on different terms and conditions.

The process to grant the 3G licences has seen a lot of support and opposition as well as a series of legal challenges from involved parties.

But the telecom industrialists doubt if during this transit period to the NBTC era, both parties could meet the promise to bring about genuine fair treatment under the new government's policy for the industry, which has been known for its vested interests and politically linked business.

As part of the Supreme Administrative Court's ruling last September on the Thaksin asset seizure case, the former premier was said to have abused his power to benefit the Shin Corp empire founded by his family.

The Abhisit Vejjajiva government was also seen to be favouring True Corp, a charge the government fiercely denies.

One telecom industrialist said he wants to see the new government correct unclear rules and support the private sector to continue to move the industry forward, with no favouritism toward any telecom operator.

The Senate is expected to finish selecting 11 commissioners of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) this year. If it fails to nominate the full commissioner quorum within a certain period, the government can step in to appoint candidates to fill the NBTC quorum.

The Pheu Thai Party is of the view that once the 3G licences are available, the private concession holders will no more talk about the need to convert their existing concessions into a fairer licensing system. They will rush to bid for the licences and let their concession terms end naturally.

While waiting for the 3G licences, both parties have vowed to widen broadband access service via TOT and CAT Telecom, who have a plan to roll out the 3G networks nationwide.

An ICT industrialist said that instead of just trumpeting the campaigns of giving away free services to free telecom devices, both parties should come up with short- and long-term plans to drive the ICT industry forward.

[Admin]

TOT, AIS strike roaming deal
By Usanee Mongkolporn
The Nation 2011-07-08

TOT and Advanced Info Service (AIS) have made a deal under which AIS customers would be given roaming access on the TOT 3G network for data, and TOT customers will get roaming access to the AIS network for voice and data services.

This deal should help AIS expand its 3G service so it can compete with True Corp, which has partnered with CAT Telecom.

A TOT source said both sides had agreed on the matter and were waiting for the deal to take effect soon. TOT apparently sent the draft contract to AIS as soon as it looked like Pheu Thai was going to take over the country's reins. Party leader Yingluck Shinawatra is the former president of AIS.

Negotiations for this deal have been going on since last year. The source said that under this deal, TOT would initially allow 60,000 AIS customers to use its 3G network in Greater Bangkok for data roaming, while AIS will allow 200,000 TOT customers voice access and 10,000 customers for data services.

Under the deal, both sides are allowed to provide roaming access to a million customers each.

AIS will pay TOT a roaming fee of 85 satang for each megabyte downloaded, while TOT will pay AIS a promotional rate of 60 satang per minute for subscribers using the AIS network for voice service, Bt1 per SMS and 85 satang per megabyte of data downloaded.

The TOT source added that AIS initially wanted to charge a roaming fee of Bt1.10 per minute, but later agreed to bring it down to the promotional rate. AIS will also give TOT 30 per cent of the revenue it earns from subscribers using the TOT network for roaming access.

The TOT source said this deal was not exclusively for AIS, but AIS had the right to ask TOT to refuse other telecom firms.

AIS wants its subscribers to use the TOT network for roaming access in order to ease the burden on its 3G-900 MHz network, which is serving voice and data services to more than 30 million customers. However, partners that provide the 3G service on TOT's existing network are against the deal because they are concerned AIS would compete with them to acquire customers.

AIS is also interested in partnering with TOT to provide 3G services on TOT's soon-to-be set up nationwide 3G network.

[Admin]

DTAC in full gear for launching 3G service to the customers in August
The Nation 2011-07-22

Target a total of 2,000 base stations by 2012

Total Access Communication PLC (dtac), announced the readiness to launch 3G High Speed Data Packet Access (HSPA) service on 850 MHz band in August 2011. With 3G technology, dtac can provide greater benefits with a full portfolio of broadband mobile internet services for consumers in Thailand, marking a major step in reaching the goal to become the country's best data network operator.

Jon Eddy Abdullah, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of dtac said "the launch of dtac 3G service will enable us to better address the fast growing demand for high speed broadband and mobile internet in Thailand. We believe that customers will enjoy a full range of benefits from high speed communication services as well as a great deal of new innovative solutions that will follow. 3G service is a crucial factor for dtac to better address customer's demand and to become number one leader in the wireless data service segment"

dtac has previously committed to invest Bt1.2 billion for the network upgrade for 3G service up to 1,220 base stations and currently completed the initial network upgrade in Bangkok. Starting from July 25, the company will provide a "3G service quality test", to its employees, in order to ensure the best customer experience when the service is fully launched in August. The further network upgrade, covering entire Bangkok and several major provinces, will be continue and expected to be completed within this year. dtac 3G service will be initially available in Bangkok in the middle of August 2011.

"We plan to continue investing in the best technology for our customers with a target of 2,000 3G base stations within 2012, a further investment of THB 750 million for additional 780 base stations in order to provide 3G service in total of 40 provinces," said Abdullah.

dtac has marked an important step to finally launch 3G service and to take another step toward the no.1 position in the data service arena in the near future. With a strong endeavor to deliver the best service quality for customers, dtac will launch the "Life network", an integrated campaign that governs the core value of all product and service offerings. More details about dtac's "Life Network", campaign will gradually come out soon through various marketing communication channels.