AIS partners with Jasmine for Wi-Fi service (Thailand)
Thailand’s Advanced Info Service (AIS) has partnered with telecommunications holding firm Jasmine International for Wi-Fi internet services.
According to Jasmine Chief Executive Officer, Pete Bodharamik , the joint Wi-Fi internet offers is priced at US$3.27 per month and offers unlimited internet access to AIS customers.
The service is provided at 15,000 hotspots across Thailand operated by Jasmine unit Triple T Broadband. Jasmine is targeting 1 million Wi-Fi subscribers within three years, up from the current 20,000. Jasmine spent US$39.66 million this year on business development with US$33.05 million earmarked for the broadband internet business and US$6.6116 million for the expansion of the Wi-Fi network to 50,000 hotspots by the end of this year.
DPC seeks LTE testing permission (Thailand)
Thai mobile operator Advanced Info Service (AIS)’s subsidiary, Digital Phone Company (DPC) has reportedly asked its build-transfer-operate (BTO) concession issuer CAT Telecom for permission to test 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile broadband technology.
According to sources, DPC is planning to test LTE equipment from Huawei, ZTE and Ericsson. Each vendor will require permission from the National Telecommunication Commission (NTC) before carrying out the tests, to be applied for in parallel to DPC’s request to CAT.
It is also reported that DPC will set aside as much as 10MHz bandwidth for the 4G trial, out of its total 12.5MHz of allocated 1800MHz spectrum. The test will be run for 90 days on seven or eight base stations in Bangkok.
Thailand’s ICT minister to propose fresh bids
The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) minister has stated that he is prepared to submit his proposal to the cabinet to invite foreign telecom firms to take over the concessions of local mobile operators if they fail to pay compensation for past concession amendments.
According to Juti Krairiksh, the proposal would apply to all three mobile operators- Advanced Info Service (AIS), DTAC and True Move, if compensation negotiations fail.
The minister and executives of TOT Plc met in Spain last month with executives of eight international telecom companies to discuss the possibility of selling the concession of mobile leader AIS to them.
The eight are Telecom Italia of Italy, China Mobile, NTT DoCoMo of Japan, SK Telecom of South Korea, Axiata of Malaysia, and three US operators.
Mr Juti insisted the ministry would not intervene in continuing negotiations between an ICT Ministry committee, private operators and state enterprises on compensation figures.
However, he acknowledged that negotiations were unlikely to be settled amicably given the wide gap in the stances of TOT and CAT Telecom and the private operators.
TOT and CAT, despite having approved the concession amendments, some made as long as 15 years ago, are seeking tens of billions of baht to cover losses from deals that they say favored the operators.
Juti added that if concession negotiations cannot be settled, the matter reverts to the ICT ministry, so he will submit the proposal to the cabinet for consideration. Then, he will announce the opportunity for prospective foreign operators to submit their proposals to take over the mobile concessions from operators that could not settle with the state.
TOT drops case against AIS (Thailand)
The board of TOT has decided not to take legal action against Advanced Info Service (AIS) over the concession amendments.
Authorities had calculated that the illegal concession amendments cost the firm over US$2.38 billion.
As per the committee looking into the matter of compensation for the concession amendments, it is examining proposals from operators and expects to need one more week. The committee will also ask TOT and CAT to provide more details on their damage claim calculations.
Thai Operators Appeal MNP Fines
Three Thailand mobile operators, Advanced Info Service (AIS), TrueMove and TOT have lodged their appeal against fines the government has imposed for missing the deadline to launch Mobile Number Portability (MNP). The companies claimed that they are ready to launch the service shortly. Deputy Secretary-General of the regulator, Prasert Apipunya has confirmed the news.
The operators are presently being fined US$5,500 per day for missing the August deadline. This fine is set to double next week and increase further next month if the service is not launched. According to the previous statements by the networks, they cannot launch MNP until mid-December at the earliest.
And if the launch of the MNP is delayed until mid-December, then the theoretical fine could reach around US$1 million per network operator.
The other two operators, CAT Telecom and Total Access Communication (DTAC), are expected to submit appeals as well.
MVNO’s protest delays AIS and TOT 3G tie-ups
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Thailand’s mobile market leader Advanced Info Service (AIS) will have to wait for another four to six months before beginning the proposed data roaming service on the state enterprise’s 2100MHz 3G networks.
The decision has been taken by the board of Thai state-run telco TOT in order to give its contracted mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) some marketing leeway. AIS, operating as a small-scale 3G network using 900MHz frequency have been proposed to offer its users 3G data roaming on TOT’s 2100MHz network today for a trial period.
However, TOT has faced an outcry from the five MVNOs Loxley, Samart I-Mobile, 365 Communication, IEC International and M Consultant Corporation, who are committed to reselling services over the TOT 3G networks which launched in Bangkok in December 2009.
According to AIS chief executive Wichian Mektrakarn, Shin Corp-owned cellco had told TOT that it would cease the voice roaming service pending consultation with the National Telecoms Commission (NTC), in addition to suspending a pricing agreement with TOT under which the latter’s customers are charged THB0.60 (USD0.018) a minute for roaming instead of THB1.10.
Two Thai mobile firms fight to cut payments
Thailand’s number two and three mobile phone firms said on Thursday they had joined forces to seek change in the way they pay revenues to state firms that made them less competitive than rival Advanced Info Service .
Second-ranked Total Access Communication (TAC) and number three True Move PCL told a joint news conference AIS, which has more than 50 percent of the mobile phone market, had lower operating costs than them.
“It’s time for both of us to raise our voice,” TAC chief executive Sigve Brekke said. “We are pointing out that AIS has enjoyed a lot of advantages.”
They have filed a letter of complaint to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) regulator and asked the Information, Communications and Technology Ministry to investigate and help create fair competition.
TAC and True Move have a combined share of about 45 percent of the Thai market, where more than half of population has a mobile phone. Their cooperation will not involve marketing strategy, they said.
The move has highlighted the long-running controversy about the way private operators pay a proportion of their revenues to state-run TOT and CAT Telecom for the right to operate networks they built and paid for.
For more than 10 years, private companies have been dogged by a system they say is unfair as some pay less than others.
TAC, controlled by Norway’s Telenor , and True Move have to pay an access charge to TOT for transferring mobile call traffic to its fixed line network.
But AIS, founded by ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, pays no access charge because it operates under a different contract.
Both TAC and True had agreed not to pay the access charge if an interconnection fee regime was implemented early next year as it was considered the same, True chief executive Supachai Chearavanont said.
The NTC is finalising terms for interconnection fees — the charge a caller’s network pays to the receiving party’s network.
The two firms said AIS paid revenues of 20 percent for its prepaid clients, lower than their 20-30 percent, and asked the regulator to speed up the launch of number portability, which allows users to keep numbers when shifting to other operators.
AIS spokeswoman Wilai Keangprdoo denied the allegation aand the firm would clarify the issues to the NTC.
“What they said is untrue. We are gathering information to defend ourselves,” Wilai told Reuters.
Thailand has been struggling with the deregulation of its telecoms industry since 1997. Progress has been painfully slow and strewn with political obstacles.
On Thursday, AIS shares fell 0.6 percent to 90.50 baht, while True shares rose 4.5 percent to 9.35 baht and the main Thai stock index rose 0.67 percent.
Source- sg.news Wireless Mobile Telecom
