AIS plans $ 261 million network upgrade (Thailand)
Telecom operator AIS is reportedly planning to upgrade its network to enable better services for its subscribers, a project estimated to be worth $ 261 million.
According to reports, Vichien Mektrakarn, CEO, AIS said that the company ended 2011 with 33.5 million subscribers (up from 32 million in 2010), with voice revenue still growing by 8 per cent. Current mobile penetration is around 110 per cent in a country of 69 million. Further, for data, the network has 9 million users (up from 7.5 million) of which 1.2 million are on AIS’ 900-MHz 3G network.
The operator expects a 5 per cent service revenue growth and over 10 per cent device sales growth in this year. Mark Chong Chin Kok , Chief Operating Officer, AIS has said that 2012 will see $ 261 million capex put into the network. The number of 900-MHz 3G base stations will be doubled to 3,500, and coverage will be concentrated in major cities among 17 out of Thailand’s 76 provinces. Capacity will be uplifted to 5 million from the current 2 million.
CAT and TOT to delay 3G wireless-broadband service launch due to floods (Bangkok)
CAT Telecom and TOT have reportedly postponed the launch of their 3G wireless-broadband services in Bangkok due to floods in the country. According to reports, CAT plans to launch its 3G wireless broadband service by next month, under the brand ‘My’, across provinces which have not been affected by the floods.
As per sources, CAT and True Corp group collaborated in order to develop the 3G-High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) service using the 850 MHz spectrum. Reports suggest that BFKT, a subsidiary of True Corp., had installed HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) network equipment for CAT.
Reports reveal that Anont Tubtiang, President, TOT said that the flooding has delayed the state agency’s rollout of its nationwide 3G network in some areas, prompting it to re-evaluate its plan to fully launch the service in 18 provinces this month.
Further, sources claim that TOT has already launched the service in some areas and also offers certain customers access to 3G services on AIS’s (Advanced Info Service) network while roaming outside its coverage area.
SingTel to raise stake in AIS to 23.32 percent (Singapore, Thailand)
Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (SingTel) may be planning to raise its stake in Thailand’s Advanced Info Service (AIS) to 23.32 percent from 21.27 percent for about US$ 260 million. According to reports, SingTel has said that that Shin Corp PCL will sell 61 million shares in AIS. As per sources, Shin Corp owns a 42.6% stake in Advanced Info Services.
Further, reports suggest telecom giant SingTel has said it continues to look out for investment opportunities in Asia and other emerging markets, and that it will focus on strengthening the operating and financial performance of its associates. SingTel also has a stake in other foreign mobile operators such as Bhart Airtel (India), Telkomsel (Indonesia), Pacific Bangladesh telecom, Globe Telecom (Philippines) and Warid Telecom (Pakistan).
As per industry reports, SingTel has over 400 million mobile customers across 25 countries.
AIS to offer its customers 3G roaming this month (Thailand)
According to reports, Wichian Mektrakarn, CEO, Advanced Info Service (AIS) expects to offer their customers 3G roaming services on state-owned TOT company’s 3G network by the end of this month. He said that the number of AIS subscribers who would be able to roam on TOT’s network would be based on TOT’s 3G network capacity. Reports suggest that AIS initially expects to offer roaming to 500,000 customers on TOT’s network, with a maximum capacity of 2 million customers as compared to the previously agreed 60,000 initial customers with a maximum capacity of 1 million.
Sources claim that TOT plans to set up 3,500 base stations in 18 provinces, including Greater Bangkok by next month. Further, TOT reportedly expects the numbers of 3G users on its network to go up from the 200,000 to 1.2 million users by this year, and upto 7 million by 2015.
Thailand’s 3G plans may be delayed due to political reasons (Thailand)
Thailand’s plans to sell 3G licenses for wireless services may be delayed due to politics, as reportedly said by Wichian Mektrakarn, CEO, Advanced Info Service Pcl (AIS), the nation’s largest mobile operator. AIS along with Total Access Communication Pcl and True Corp. Pcl, had started offering limited 3G services earlier in the year.
However, as per reports, Mr. Mektrakarn has said that they would not like to invest more of their resources in the 3G network until the government auctions licenses and sets rules for operating the service. He further stated that he believes there is still some kind of conspiracy or movement to try to stop or delay 3G. He claims that there are still a lot of obstacles and anything can happen in Thailand at this moment. Wichian has reportedly said that the three private operators are counting on mobile internet to spur revenue from users of smartphones such as Apple Inc.’s iPhone and Research In Motion Ltd.’s Blackberry. Data revenue accounts for about 19 percent of Advanced Info’s total turnover.
The share price of all these operators witnessed a decline. While AIS share price fell down by 2.3 percent to US$ 4, Total Access went down 2.7 percent to US$2.29 and True Corp. slid 5.1 percent to US$ 0.09.
As per reports, True Corp., Thailand’s third largest operator plans to build a 3G network by 2013 in a venture with CAT Telecom, the state-owned company that runs Thailand’s international telecommunications infrastructure.
TrueMove H launches 3G services in Bangkok
TrueMove H, Thailand’s third largest mobile operator launched 3G wireless broadband services in Bangkok and 16 other provinces. The company launched the service under the slogan ‘Free You’ and plans to introduce five phases at a combined cost of $831.7 million. The spectrum using the high speed packet access (HSPA) technology, will offer the company WiFi internet speed capability of 8Mbps.
As per reports, CEO of Thailand’s True Corp, Supachai Chearavanont says that True will spend $6.6 million on an initial marketing campaign for TrueMove H, expected to be launched next month. The aim is to acquire 1 million users by year end as compared to the current customer base of 1 Lac. In its aim to be the market leader in 3G services, TrueMove H faces tough competition from Advanced Info Service (AIS) and Digital Total Access Communication (DTAC).
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.
Slow 3G growth hurts mobile revenue in developing Asia
A report has claimed that mobile subscriptions in the developing countries of Asia continue to grow dramatically, as operators like Bharti Airtel of India and China Mobile tap new consumer segments. However, revenue growth has been failing to keep pace.
According to the research, average annual revenue growth from 2001 through 2015 is forecast to lag subscription growth by more than 10 percentage points. Without a boost from new services offered on 3G networks, revenue will start to stagnate in the next few years.
Price competition is one factor that is holds down revenue. In the hypercompetitive Indian market, for example, Bharti Airtel offers voice calls for as little as 1.2 cents per a minute, while in nearby Sri Lanka, an imposed price floor keeps operators from cutting prices below a penny a minute. Expansion into rural areas also reduces revenues.
As per researchers, operators really must expand beyond the city in order to grow. Yet, people in the country typically do not have as much money to spend on communication, which hurts the top line.
For many operators, including AIS in Thailand, which now receives more than 10 percent of its service revenues from non-messaging data services, the ability to promote services beyond voice and SMS has been a key to revenue enhancement. However, AIS and the other Thai operators have been unable to expand high-speed services beyond a few limited areas because 3G spectrum auctions have been delayed for years.
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.
