True upbeat on imminent arrival of full 3G era

True’s chief executive officer, Suphachai Chearavanont, said yesterday that the value of the market next year was expected to expand by 13 per cent, mainly driven by rising mobile data consumption, which will be catapulted by full third-generation broadband.
The three holders of 2.1-gighertz licences – True Corp’s Real Future, Advanced Info Service’s Advanced Wireless Network, and DTAC Net-work of Total Access Communication – will start setting up their 3G-2.1GHz networks soon. They are expected to launch 3G services by the second quarter of next year.
Suphachai said the three companies’ massive spending on their 3G networks would also contribute to the country’s economic growth.
True’s mobile-phone-service group has set aside about Bt15 billion next year for further business expansion, of which most will be spent on establishing Real Future’s 3G network.
The company’s mobile-service group consists of TrueMove, Real Move and Real Future.
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has obliged the three 3G licence holders to have their networks cover 50 per cent of the population within two years of obtaining the licences, and 80 per cent within four years.
Reliable service and decent network coverage are True’s key strategies for wooing 3G subscribers, Suphachai said.
True expects there will be about 20 million 3G mobile-phone subscribers in all platforms in the market next year, against about 6 million this year.
Private telecom operators had been providing 3G service on their existing spectra long before the NBTC’s granting of the 2.1GHz licences this month.
True also estimates that next year there will be some 15 million handset sales, of which 85 per cent will be smart phones. A study by the company has found that smart phones boost monthly average revenue per user by between Bt150 and Bt180 for the operators.
Furthermore, it expects demand for the industry’s non-voice services to rise by 70 per cent next year, while the consumption of mobile bandwidth is forecast to expand 3.5 times.
The size of the mobile broadband service market is projected to double to Bt14 billion next year.
Suphachai said True was open to talks about a possible strategic partnership as it had now obtained a 2.1GHz licence, but added that there was no urgent need to seek such a tie-up.
He declined to comment when asked whether Real Future would be able to offer both voice and data service tariffs 15 per cent lower than the average market price, as the NBTC requires all three 2.1GHz licence holders to do.
He said he still needed to study the details of this requirement further.
The CEO added that True was awaiting a clear policy from the NBTC about how it would handle the end of TrueMove’s concession next year.
The watchdog is expected to finalise next month the plan to deal with the expiry of the TrueMove and Digital Phone Co concessions under CAT Telecom. Both are due to end next September.
The NBTC wants to reclaim the 1,800-megahertz spectrum from CAT for reallocation via an auction.
True also expects to see hyper-competition in the satellite-and-cable-TV sector next year in terms of content offerings. The overall cable-and satellite-TV market is expected to expand 35 per cent next year to 15 million households. Some 11 million households out of about 20 million around the country currently use such services.
True Group is targeting high-single-digit growth in consolidated revenue next year, with pay-TV operator TrueVisions, the True cellular group and True Online all playing their part.
True Online, whose businesses range from broadband Internet to telephone, will invest about Bt10 billion next year on further business and network expansion.
 It expects 1.9 million household subscribers by year-end, up from 1.6 million this year.
It will spend Bt1.5 billion on hardware in 2013, the same as this year, to enhance its business.