AIS sets sights on True teen subscribers
ADVANCED INFO Service (AIS) will strive to woo teen subscribers to its fourth-generation service, attracting them away from True Corp’s mobile-phone network, as these youngsters have the potential to become a major revenue source in the future.
Pratthana Leelapanang, AIS’ acting chief marketing officer, said there were around 900,000 teens with the potential to become AIS premium customers when they grow up, and a number of them were students at well-known schools in Thailand.
He estimated that 20 per cent of those 900,000 young subscribers were in the AIS network, most were in the True network, and the rest with Total Access Communications (DTAC). Most of them are still prepaid users, as their parents control their spending.
AIS aims to secure at least half of these 900,000 teens next year, Pratthana said. He said AIS would use aggressive marketing campaigns and capitalise on its strong 4G network to win them over.
He added that the AIS Play mobile application was one of the key tools to woo these teenagers because of its appealing and unique content, including Japanese cartoons, music, and sports content.
AIS Play next year will focus on offering live-broadcast content and TV series.
AIS has found that most teenagers use True’s mobile-phone service as the company offered bundled packages to their families, combining the TrueVisions pay-TV service with a free 4G mobile-phone SIM card containing a certain monthly airtime value.
Pratthana said that as the AIS 4G network would cover 98 per cent of the population by the end of this year, the company was ready to become the leader in the 4G arena, just as it is the leader in 2G and 3G services.
True’s wireless broadband brand True Move H was the first in Thailand to launch 4G service in May 2013, using the 2.1-gigahertz spectrum. According to True, its 4G network has covered 98 per cent of the population nationwide since May.
True now provides 4G service on multiple bands – 2.1GHz, 1,800 megahertz and 900MHz.
AIS launched its 4G service early this year, first on 1,800MHz and later also on 900MHz.
Pratthana said AIS would also add more services and content to its “Zeed” prepaid-call SIM cards, which has been available since early this year specifically targeting teenagers.
