Cable Thai out to lead triple play market
The new boss of Cable Thai Holding has laid out a master plan to make his company the country's leading content and platform provider offering triple play and telecom services by 2015.
Chief executive officer Kittsanan Ngampatipong said yesterday that in the 2011-15, the company would spend Bt10 million on upgrading its fibre-optic network by grouping its members into 10 key clusters.
This is part of the company’s ambition to enter the new arena of triple play – cable TV broadcasting, broadband Internet and voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) – by next year.
CTH will join the bidding for third-generation cellular licences next month.
“If we get a licence, we will also offer telecommunication services in the following year,” he said.
Once the fibre-optic cable upgrade is completed this year, broadcasts on CTH’s network will be only digital, while old analog broadcasts will be over local cable TV. With the cutting-edge technology, CTH can offer up to 800 channels to its cable customers.
The full launch of the new service and new set-top box will be in February.
The company expects to increase its average revenue per user to Bt350 per month next year from Bt300 per month now.
CTH plans to introduce other services in the second and third quarters of next year and expects to have more than 10 million household subscribers by 2015. Currently it serves 300 cable TV operator members with 3.5 million subscribers across the nation.
Under the three-year plan, CTH will roll out an array of services from digital media and home shopping to media research, business-to-business and direct marketing, Kittsanan said.
Kittsanan came to CTH with long experience in the entertainment and telecom industries. He was once an executive vice president at Advanced Info Service, the largest telecom firm. He also worked as CEO of Major Cineplex Group, the largest cinema chain operator, and as an executive adviser to JSL Global Media.
