True's Bt70-bn fund going ahead, says Suphachai

He said a small number of towers were in dispute and the issue would not affect the company’s plan to raise around Bt70 billion from the fund. He said True has considered all aspects thoroughly, including this dispute, when planning the fund’s establishment.

One key part of the infrastructure fund creation is True’s plan to sell telecom infrastructure assets to the fund, including 13,000 telecom towers. TrueMove has 7,000 telecom towers under a CAT concession, of which 4,500 are listed in the arbitration dispute. True itself has 6,000. True subsidiary BFKT (Thailand) has another 1,400 towers.

Recently, a CAT Telecom source said TrueMove had reached a preliminary agreement to transfer to the state agency 4,500 of the 7,000 telecommunication towers it utilises under its concession with CAT. TrueMove has also proposed buying back the 4,500 towers from the state 

 agency and including them in the infrastructure fund’s assets.

True Corp is in the process of setting up an infrastructure fund to raise not less than Bt70 billion to repay debts and for future business expansion. Its board recently approved the company and/or its subsidiaries entering into transactions for an infrastructure fund, and said it was preparing to apply to the Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission for the fund’s establishment. The company plans to sell telecom towers, its core fibre-optic cable network, broadband networks, and the rights to revenue from equipment rental, to the fund. It will also acquire a 33-per-cent stake in the fund.

True chief financial officer Noppadol Dej-udom last week said that True’s search for a strategic partner would resume once the establishment of an infrastructure fund was complete.