AIS marketing to concentrate on new 3G service

Advanced Info Service plans to phase out marketing for its old concession-based second-generation cellular service next year to focus on aggressively promoting its new licence-based 3G broadband service on the 2.1-gigahertz spectrum. 

Next year AIS’s installed 2.1GHz base stations should double to 20,000 nationwide.

AIS’s 2.1GHz service already has about 9 million subscribers, of whom 60 per cent were migrated from its 2G network. The target for year-end has been revised upward to 12 million from 8 million. AIS has more then 37 million subscribers, including the 9 million 2.1GHz users.

Since its 2G concession from TOT will expire in March 2015, AIS has rushed to migrate its users to its subsidiary Advanced Wireless Network (AWN), which holds a 2.1GHz licence from the National Broadcasting and Tele-communications Commission.

AIS chief executive officer Wichian Mektrakarn said yesterday that his company was looking for more bandwidth to serve all its existing customers. If the NBTC is able to auction the 1,800-megahertz bands of TrueMove and Digital Phone Co (DPC) next year, AIS will definitely participate in the bidding. If not, AIS has to look for another way, such as forming a partnership with TOT on the 2.1GHz service, since TOT also has part of the 2.1GHz spectrum.

The 1,800MHz concessions granted to TrueMove and DPC by CAT Telecom expired on Sunday, but the NBTC has allowed the two carriers to join with CAT to con-tinue serving customers for one more year to prevent service disruption. The NBTC hopes to auction this 1,800MHz spectrum next September.

AIS is also expanding its Wi-Fi network coverage to serve its 2.1GHz users and is in talks with Total Access Communication (DTAC) on a possible partnership for expansion of this service. Wi-Fi is another key tool to provide data access to AIS mobile users, besides mobile data service. 

AIS also recently asked TOT to return all 14,000 telecom towers to the company, Wichian said. 

 

Change of plan 

AIS had already transferred all 14,000 towers to TOT as required by its concession, but later changed its mind to reclaiming all towers as part of its plan to launch an infrastructure fund.

However, a telecom-industry source wonders if AIS really wants to set up the fund. The real reason for trying to reclaim the telecom towers from TOT might be that it does not want to lose advantages to its competitors.

True Corp plans to raise Bt70 billion by selling the network assets of its telecom group to the infrastructure fund. 

However, CAT wants True to settle their dispute over the network assets True will sell to the fund.