Thailand mobile service sector is hot ?

Players in the telecommunication industry are actively pursuing partnerships and pushing for mass mobile-phone-number portability, while the two state telecom agencies are continuing their attempts to keep control of their spectra.

All this activity has been sparked by the planned launch of third-generation wireless broadband on the 2.1-gigahertz spectrum and the approaching end of cellular concessions.

POSSIBLE 4G PARTNERSHIP

Newly appointed TOT president Yongyuth Wattanasin recently remarked that one option to secure a bright future for the agency was to seek a business partnership with Advanced Info Service (AIS), its concession holder. TOT is keen to talk with the largest cellular operator on possible joint development of 3G and 4G service on their adjacent bands of the 2.1GHz spectrum.

"We're waiting for AIS to talk with us on this possible collaboration," he said.

The band of AIS subsidiary Advanced Wireless Network (AWN) is adjacent to that of TOT. Each holds 15 megahertz of the 2.1GHz spectrum. TOT began providing 3G-2.1GHz service on its own spectrum many years ago, while AWN is expected to launch its 3G service on the same spectrum next month. TOT is testing the 4G service on 100 base stations along the main Skytrain route.

A TOT source said the agency was even interested in joining with AIS to take care of the latter's customers who may fail to switch to other networks after the concession expires in March 2015. TOT estimates that AIS might not be able to shift all of its more than 35.7 million subscribers to AWN's network in 2015, and about 10 million subscribers will be left in the AIS network at that time.

TOT might ask AIS to lease its network to service these 10 million customers on a revenue-sharing basis, the source added.

PUSH FOR MASS NUMBER PORTABILITY

AIS and True Corp have urged the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) to fast-track portability of mobile-phone numbers between the two under a mutual agreement. The portability scheme allows users to switch providers while keeping their existing phone numbers. Both AIS and True want to speed up this process to give their premium data subscribers access to their subsidiaries' 3G-2.1GHz networks.

Currently the combined portability capacity of the five telecom operators - AIS, Total Access Communication (DTAC), TrueMove, TOT and CAT - is 40,000 phone numbers per day.

However, TOT and CAT will be unhappy if mass number portability results in a rapid loss of concession revenue. To increase the portability capacity, all telecoms would also have to invest more to expand their existing number-transfer systems, and TOT and CAT do not see how they would get any benefit from this.

Information and Communication Technology Minister Anudith Nakornthap said he also did not see how TOT and CAT would benefit from additional investment to expand their number-portability capacity.

But the cellular operators are eager to move their high-spending customers from the state concessions to the 3G networks of their subsidiaries, which hold NBTC licences, to reduce their costs from regulatory fees. Concession fees cost them an average of 25 per cent of gross annual revenue, while the NBTC's licences cost around 6.75 per cent of gross annual revenue.

BATTLE TO KEEP CUSTOMERS, SPECTRA

CAT estimates that there will be about 10 million customers left in TrueMove's network when the company's concession ends this September 15. CAT cites this case to justify its request to the NBTC to allow the agency to keep its 1,800MHz spectrum to serve these 10 million subscribers.

An NBTC source said the private cellular operators seemed to want to keep servicing the subscribers left in their networks by themselves, instead of having other parties doing so, if some customers fail to switch to other networks before the concessions end. The NBTC is studying the legal aspects of the situation.

But CAT chief executive officer Kitisak Sriprasert said that according to their concession contracts, the private cellular operators had to transfer network assets and customers to the concession owners once their contracts expire. He added that if CAT's concession holders cited this legal aspect to keep leftover customers with them, CAT might have to bring this case to the court to sort out the matter.