AIS says it has 800,000 users for 3G-2.1GHz service

All of the 800,000 new users have to use call forwarding to AIS’s subsidiary Advanced Wireless Network (AWN) because the number-portability capacity of all five operators is limited to 40,000 cases per day.

Somchai Letsuttiwong, chief marketing officer, said 1.7 million AIS users had applied to migrate to AWN. All of them are expected to be moved over to the third-generation service on the 2.1-gigahertz spectrum this month.

AIS kicked off its 3G-2.1GHz service yesterday for the general public. It is targeting 10 million customers, both old and new, for the new service by year-end.

Hui Weng Cheong, chief operating officer, said AIS had set a Bt70-billion budget for network expansion over a few years. It has about 5,000 base stations in main cities in 20 provinces in every region throughout the country. Every month at least 800 base stations will be installed to ensure coverage for 77 provinces this year and full coverage countrywide by next year.

Also yesterday, AIS launched a variety promotion package starting at Bt299 per month for 100 minutes of free calls and 500 megabits per second of throughput.

Somchai said some of AIS’s packages might offer greater value in terms of services, such as faster data speed, and of applications, which account more than a 15-per-cent surplus from existing promotions.

“All new promotional packages are discounted more than 15 per cent from existing 2G service promotions,” he said.

Yesterday the National Broad-casting and Telecommunications Commission asked all three 3G-2.1GHz operators to offer a 15-per-cent discount for all new users.

Takorn Tantasit, secretary-general of the NBTC, said all of the new 3G licensees had to comply with the commission’s regulations on reducing their package prices. It will monitor them to check if they are following the regulation. Violators will be sent a warning letter. Repeat offenders will be fined and eventually ordered to cease operations.