True's 4G service expected to be a major growth driver

Kittinut Tikawan, True Corp chief commercial officer for mobile business, said yesterday that the 4G-2.1GHz service would be a key driver of True’s mobile-phone service business this year.
Market-leading Advanced Info Service (AIS) expects its own service revenue, excluding interconnection-charge income, to grow by 3-4 per cent this year, due to continuously high wireless-data demand and an improving 3G-2.1GHz network.
AIS posted like-for-like service revenue of Bt117.99 billion in 2014, up 1.2 per cent year on year.
Total Access Communication (DTAC), meanwhile, expects low single-digit growth in its service revenue (also excluding interconnection-charge revenue) this year, driven by the economic recovery and mobile Internet service.
Last year, DTAC reported like-for-like service revenue of Bt68.275 billion, down 2.6 per cent year on year, as it was pressured by intense competition and the sluggish economy.
True said that by April this year, its 4G service would cover 80 per cent of the population via 9,000 cellular base stations nationwide.
TrueMove H generates an average revenue per user of Bt1,000 per month for its 4G service, against Bt600-Bt800 for its 3G service, Kittinut said.
As of the third quarter last year, TrueMove H had 26 million subscribers, of which 900,000 were 4G users. Some 23.1 million were 3G users under 850MHz and 2.1GHz bandwidth, and the remaining 2 million were 2G users.
Yesterday, True and China Mobile – its strategic partner, which holds 18 per cent of the company –co-launched the “Thailand-Greater China Number Service” for Thai business travellers to China and Hong Kong, and a 4G multi-band smart phone – the True Smart 4G 5.5.
The “Thailand-Greater China Number Service” provides local China and Hong Kong numbers on TrueMove H SIM cards, in line with Thai business customers’ requirement for convenient communication when travelling to China and Hong Kong, which are listed in the top-5 most-visited destinations among Thai travellers.
The service, which was co-launched in Thailand, along with the new 4G phone, means travellers will stay connected via their Thailand-Greater China numbers without the need to change to local SIM cards.
The China and Hong Kong numbers can be reached via local Greater China business partners at the domestic tariff. True chief executive officer Supachai Chearavanont said the number service was the first joint service offering by True and China Mobile following the signing of their strategic-partnership agreement last September.