Briefs

TOT plans to petition the Central Administrative Court to bar Advanced Info Service from leasing disputed telecommunication towers under the concession contract to AIS subsidiary Advanced Wireless Network (AWN).

A TOT source said the state agency believed AWN should not be able to use these towers while AIS and TOT are still embroiled in a dispute over the ownership of 13,198 telecom towers under the concession.

Earlier TOT and AIS were talking on the possibility of setting up a joint venture to manage the towers but the negotiations were suspended.

TOT’s AIS concession expired on Wednesday.

AWN holds a 2.1-gigahertz licence from the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission. It has around 40 million subscribers.

New fuel service

Osaka Gas (Thailand) Co, a subsidiary of Osaka Gas Co, will establish OGP Energy Solutions Co, a company that will provide fuel-conversion services to industrial customers in Thailand, through a joint investment with PTT Retail Business Co, a subsidiary of PTT.

In its mid-term business plan, the Osaka Gas Group aims to expand its downstream business outside Japan. This has already resulted in gas-sales business in Singapore through City-OG Gas Energy Services, energy-service business in Thailand through OGT, and co-generation/on-site business in Thailand through NS-OG Energy Solutions (Thailand), a company jointly invested with Nippon Steel & Sumikin Engineering Co.

Prior to establishment of this joint venture, the group’s energy-service business in Thailand focused primarily on Japanese companies.

ANZ receives approval

The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group has received final regulatory approval from Myanmar’s central bank to open a branch there, deepening its presence in the Greater Mekong Subregion after its recent branch opening in Thailand.

ANZ opened a representative office in Myanmar in June 2013. The branch is officially launched today.

Last year, it was one of nine foreign banks winning licences to open branches in the country. Announcing the licence winners in October 2014, the central bank required them to open their branches within a year, so ANZ just met the deadline.

Smuggled Thai rice

Rice smuggled from Thailand is now available at local shops in Myanmar, taking advantage of a price differential, according to the Myanmar Rice Federation.

“Rice from Thailand began entering the local market 10 days ago. It has been seen for sale in retail shops,” said Lu Maw Myint Maung, co-secretary of the MRF.

Thai rice is sold in 50-kilogram bags. Each is priced about 2,000-3,000 kyat (Bt55-Bt85), cheaper than the best locally produced rice.

The price of local rice is higher because of insufficient supplies due to floods and high demand from China. Myanmar allocates 80 per cent of its rice output for export to China, but actual demand outstrips the official exports – prompting illegal trade of rice along the Myanmar-China border.– Myanmar Eleven