AIS weighs three options to deal with spectrum overcrowding

The options are to roam with other cellular networks, adopt the MVNO (mobile virtual network operation) model, or use a model similar to that of the True Corp-CAT Telecom 3G partnership. However, he declined to elaborate. 

An MVNO is a company without its own telecom network that leases airtime from telecom operators to provide service. 

Under the True-CAT 3G partnership, True’s subsidiary BFKT (Thailand) set up a cellular broadband network for CAT to generate wholesale bandwidth for leasing to another True subsidiary, Real Move, which provided the third-generation service to customers.

Somchai said it would be clearer in the first quarter of next year which of the three options AIS would select. 

He believes that the auction of the 1,800- and 900-megahertz spectra by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission’s telecom committee will definitely taken place, as this would benefit the economy and generate a lot of revenue for the government. The establishment of new telecom networks by the auction winners will also create jobs and move the country further towards a digital economy.

The telecom committee was originally scheduled to auction the 1,800MHz spectrum bands of TrueMove and Digital Phone Co this August and the 900MHz band used by AIS in November. However, the National Council for Peace and Order instructed the committee to suspend the auctions by one year to ensure their transparency.

With the country’s largest subscription base of more than 42 million customers, AIS is keen to acquire additional bandwidth to back up its service. AIS provides 2G cellular service on 17.5MHz bandwidth of the 900MHz spectrum and 3G wireless broadband service on 15MHZ bandwidth of the 2.1-gigahertz spectrum. Its 900MHz concession will expire next year. AIS is also eager to launch 4G-2.1GHz wireless broadband service soon. Somchai believes that AIS’s 4G service will be able to compete with those of its rivals, True and Total Access Communication (DTAC), which have already debuted 4G on 2.1GHz.

He is also confident that AIS will be able to achieve total mobile-phone-service revenue of around Bt120 billion this year.

According to a recent filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand, AIS plans to invest in fixed broadband (FBB) business with initial capital expenditure of Bt4.6 billion, of which about Bt1 billion will be invested in the first 12 months of the programme. 

Currently, there are 4.8 million FBB subscribers in Thailand, or 24 per cent of households, with a market value of about Bt5.6 billion. This represents future growth potential, especially when compared with the FBB penetration in the Asia-Pacific region.

AIS forecasts that the FBB market will rise to 6.8 million subscribers by 2018. This is a new opportunity for AIS to leverage its capabilities and monetise its optical-fibre network nationwide to offer high-speed Internet in Thailand. AIS expects to target around 80,000 subscribers in the first year.

“We’ve already piloted the service in some locations. We’ll make the official debut early next year, postponed from the original schedule of October this year,” Somchai said.