Bid for broadcasting right to EPL
Telecommunications holding firm Samart Corp is considering joining with sports-content provider Siam Sport Syndicate to bid for the broadcasting rights to English Premier League (EPL) soccer matches, Samart president Watchai Vilailuck said yesterday.
In a separate matter, he added that Samart aimed to expand its telecom and air-traffic-control businesses in Southeast Asia, especially Burma, ahead of the 2015 launch of the Asean Economic Community.
Watchai said Siam Sport approached Samart about joining forces to bid for the right to broadcast Premier League soccer matches from 2013 to 2016. He added that Samart still has time to make a final decision.
The bidding this year for the broadcasting rights to EPL matches is expected to be fierce. GMM Grammy and pay-TV operator TrueVisions have announced that they are keen to bid for the rights.
TrueVisions’ existing three-year broadcasting rights for the Premier League expire next year, and a new round of bidding will take place in the middle of this year. TrueVisions reportedly paid almost Bt3 billion for its existing EPL rights.
Samart and Siam Sport are shareholders of I-Sport, which provides digital sport content. Three years ago Samart won the right to provide some Premier League content to mobile phones in Thailand.
REGIONAL EXPANSION
Regarding the business expansion in the region, Watchai said Samart was keen to provide information-technology solutions to the many firms that are lining up to open businesses in Burma, which is opening up to investors. These firms will need IT solutions to support their operations there, Watchai said.
The company is also keen to explore opportunities to install communications systems and develop cellular services and energy businesses in Burma, he said.
Samart subsidiaries Samart i-Mobile and Samart Telcoms, an IT solution provider, will spearhead the move into Burma.
Samart has also proposed to the Laotian and Burmese governments that it provide air-traffic-control services in the two countries, he added. Samart has long provided such services in Cambodia.
Watchai believes Samart will have new businesses up and running in the region within this year. It targets revenue of US$5 million to $10 million (Bt154 million to Bt308 million) from the planned new businesses in the region in the second half of this year. If it can achieve the goal, its total consolidated revenue this year would beat the original target of Bt27 billion.
Watchai said Samart’s consolidated revenue in the first quarter rose by between 30 and 50 per cent year on year.
