TrueMove Teams Up With Japan’s Mediaseek to Launch QR Code Reader Application in Thailand Paving the way to a new TrueMove 3G experience

To reinforce its position as Thailand’s most innovative service provider, TrueMove today officially launched QR Code technology in Thailand in collaboration with Mediaseek, Japan’s leading QR Code company. This new innovation will pave the way towards 3G services in the future and give customers a new experience in accessing content and services. With TrueMove’s “Fun Living Lifestyle” concept, Thai consumers can now easily access content via camera phones such as music downloads or watch TV and receive special privileges. The QR Code opens a new era of exciting Interactive marketing campaigns and unique promotions. Learn more about QR Code and TrueMove 3G and get a chance to win an iPhone 3G S by visiting www.truemove.com/3G from December 15, 2009 – January 15, 2010. Consumers can now experience QR Code and download the free QR Code Reader application onto their camera phones by visiting http://m.truelife.com


The QR Code (also known as a matrix code) is a two-dimensional bar code that a mobile phone equipped with special software can read using its camera, a process called mobile tagging. Information embedded in the QR code such as a URL can then launch the mobile phone’s browser, establishing a hardlink to any location on the Internet. By simply taking a photo of a QR Code on a poster, advertisement, display or practically anywhere, TrueMove customers can automatically access related content over the Internet via their mobile phones without having to type the necessary details or the URL.

According to Mr. Piroon Paireepairit, Director, Multimedia Services Content & Marketing, True Corporation Plc., “Our company’s exclusive collaboration with Mediaseek brings one of the most popular and trendy mobile phone applications in Japan to the Thai market. TrueMove, Thailand’s leading communications innovator, is delighted to offer Thai consumers the opportunity join the QR Code revolution under the concept of ‘Fun Living Lifestyle.’ They will be able to access content such as news updates and music downloads as well as watch TV or music videos and receive special privileges easily by using their camera phones to scan QR Codes from marketing materials such as posters, leaflets and point-of-purchase displays. TrueMove has already started using QR Codes to promote its 3G trial service, and customers will enjoy an increasing number of special benefits as we integrate QR Codes into a variety of other lifestyle applications.”

“Mediaseek is a fully-integrated IT solution provider company, and our QR Code reader software holds the number one share in the Japanese mobile phone market,” said Mr. Naoki Nishio, President & CEO of Mediaseek Inc. “We have exclusive rights for the “i-nigma” service, which is based on the most widely-used mobile barcode reader in Japan and has been redesigned for overseas mobile phone handsets. We are pleased to partner with TrueMove to offer our breakthrough QR Code technology to Thai consumers.”

Developed in Japan, QR Codes are very popular among Japanese mobile phone users for marketing campaigns, recording data such as addresses or providing information for almost any other purpose. QR Codes can also activate SMS for response messages, offering a new level of interactive mobile marketing. QR Code reader software can run on all major mobile phone platforms.

To experience using QR Codes, TrueMove customers can download the free reader software onto their camera phones by visiting http://m.truelife.com and participate in the special marketing campaign to win an iPhone 3G S at www.truemove.com/3G from December 15, 2009 – January 15, 2010.

QR Code® is registered trademarks of Denso Wave Incorporated in Japan and other countries.

TeliaSonera and Huawei Launch World’s Fastest Commercial Mobile Broadband Network with Huawei’s 4G/LTE Solutions

TeliaSonera and Huawei Launch World’s Fastest Commercial Mobile Broadband Network with Huawei’s 4G/LTE Solutions


Huawei, a leader in providing next-generation telecommunications network solutions for operators around the world, and TeliaSonera, the largest telecoms operator in Scandinavia and the Baltic countries, today jointly announced the deployment of the world’s first LTE commercial network in Oslo, Norway. These 4G services offer maximum speeds of up to 100 Mb/s and are approximately 10 times faster than existing 3G networks.

TeliaSonera’s customers will be the first in the world to enjoy simultaneous mobile broadband services such as high definition (HD) video conferencing in mobile environments and a variety of HD video programs via multiple terminal devices; applications that cannot be realized in current 3G networks.

Mr. Kenneth Karlberg, President and Head of Mobility Services TeliaSonera, said: “We are very proud to be the first operator in the world to offer our customers 4G services. Thanks to the successful cooperation with Huawei, we can offer 4G to our customers in Oslo earlier than originally planned.”

As a leading provider of end-to-end 4G/LTE solutions, Huawei delivered both network infrastructures and services to TeliaSonera, such as access network, core network, operation support system, and network planning and optimization. Its field proven fourth-generation base stations and SAE (System Architecture Evolution) solution ensure the stability of the network and enable fast deployment.

Yu Chengdong, President of Huawei Europe, said: “In partnership with TeliaSonera, Huawei began this journey eleven months ago to introduce the world’s most advanced mobile broadband technology to the residents of Oslo. This milestone, which was achieved in a short period of time, reflects Huawei’s unwavering commitment towards accelerating the commercialization of LTE/SAE solutions. Operators such as TeliaSonera, are now able to to fully realize economic benefits from the many new applications that can only be made possible with ultra broadband services.”

To date, Huawei has constructed over 25 LTE commercial and trial networks and has made more than 3,300 LTE/SAE contributions to 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project).
About Huawei

Huawei is a leader in providing next generation telecommunications networks, and now serves 36 of the world’s top 50 operators, along with over one billion users worldwide. The company is committed to providing innovative and customized products, services and solutions to create long-term value and growth potential for its customers.

Health Care, Telecommunications, And Chemicals Likely Will See More Upgrades Than Other Sectors In 2010, Article Says

Credit quality is slowly beginning to stabilize across nonfinancial industries, though rating activity remains more negative than positive, said an article published today by Standard & Poor's, titled "Three U.S. Industries With The Greatest Potential To Improve Their Credit Quality In 2010 (Premium)." As the economy slowly rebounds in 2010, we expect to see areas of improvement, though upgrades likely will trail downgrades in most sectors.


"After reviewing the distribution of outlooks and CreditWatch listings, ratings trends, the performance of bond spreads, and recent operating results, we identified three sectors that we believe have the potential to see an upturn in creditworthiness next year," said Diane Vazza, head of Standard & Poor's Global Fixed Income Research. "These three are health care, telecommunications, and chemicals."

Health care, which weathered the storm better than most sectors, has a relatively high positive bias (the proportion of issuers with a positive outlook or ratings on CreditWatch positive) and has seen relatively strong operating results.

The telecommunications sector also has fared well during the recession, despite having a number of highly leveraged companies. Improvement in economic and credit market conditions is supportive of continued stabilization and potential improvement in the credit quality of the telecommunications sector.

The chemicals sector has performed much worse than the other two sectors during the recession, though it has begun to show signs of stabilization. Given the cyclical nature of the sector, stronger economic conditions in 2010 could give credit quality a boost.

This article is part of our premium Global Fixed Income Research content, which is available to premium subscribers to RatingsDirect on the Global Credit Portal at www.globalcreditportal.com and to RatingsDirect at www.ratingsdirect.com. Ratings information can also be found on Standard & Poor's public Web site by using the Ratings search box located in the left column at www.standardandpoors.com. Members of the media may request a copy of this report by contacting the media representative provided.

Ericsson to provide SingTel full end-to-end LTE trial system in Singapore

Ericsson to provide SingTel full end-to-end LTE trial system in Singapore
Company will leverage its extensive experience to bring LTE to life in Singapore

Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC), announced today that they will tap on its industry-leading LTE expertise to provide SingTel with a full end-to-end trial system in Singapore, commencing in the early part of 2010. The trial marks the first phase in jump-starting deployment of 4G LTE networks for Asia’s leading telecommunications operator, which has a regional mobile-user base of more than 273 million.


Ericsson will be testing high bandwidth data and multimedia services over the trial systems, which will encompass the Radio Access Network, Evolved Packet Core Network, Mobile Backhaul Solutions and Operation Support Systems.

The trial, which will take place over a period of six to nine months, will start off on a modest and contained scale and progress over time.

Mr. Mark Chong Chin Kok, SingTel’s Executive Vice President of Networks, says, “We are pleased to collaborate with Ericsson on this LTE trial, which will allow us to better understand this technology and prepare us in offering our customers the fastest mobile broadband speeds and services available in the market. This is aligned with SingTel’s transformation towards becoming the next-generation multimedia solutions company.”

“We are very honoured to partner SingTel to support its network transformation and LTE strategy. Through this test phase, Ericsson’s trusted and proven solutions will meet SingTel’s needs, enabling both companies to explore new services in the ultra high-speed wireless space together,” says Mr. Fadi Pharaon, President and Country Manager for Ericsson Singapore and Brunei.

dtac introduces dSmart solution to improve customer experience

dtac today announced its deployment of ‘dSmart’, a solution that enables it to monitor network performance and customer experience from a single center. The move aims to deliver the greatest satisfaction to customers as problems can be solved at much faster speed.


Tore Johnsen, Chief Executive Officer of Total Access Communication Public Company Limited (dtac), said dtac implemented HP’s dSmart, the solution that comprises of a set of “off-the-shelf” standard applications to speed delivery of services and improve service quality on the back of BT850 million budget.

dSmart is a one-stop and comprehensive network monitoring and service management system that comes with customer experience management solution.

Installed at dtac’s Service Operation Center (SOC), a consolidation of dtac’s five network operations monitoring centers, dSmart enables dtac staff to view of all incidents and problem, no matter if it comes from an IT fault, a network fault or a customer complain in a real-time manner. The system gives tools to help assess the root cause to a problem faster, helps it fix the problem faster, and reduces the outage time and the customer impact.

dtac considers the spending as its long-term investment. It intends to improve customer services, reduces the duplication of work and increase efficiency. This will finally become its main strategy for customer retention and the strength that will certainly underlie its competitiveness.

“We are the first operator in Thailand and the first company in Telenor Group to implement a customer experience management solution. Under the present economic circumstances, all organizations place importance on cost efficiency and dtac is among them. However, when it comes to the greatest benefits of customers, this investment is what we are willing to make to guarantee that we can ensure utmost satisfaction for all customers. Importantly, as saturation is leading mobile phone business to new forms of competition, we need to be more customer-centric, focusing on giving the best service to customer. This system will enable us to efficiently meet the increasing and more complicated demands of customers,” Tore said.

Rolf Marthinusen, Chief Technology Officer of dtac, said that the system was developed to create the real-time and automatic management of networks and services. It is aimed at speeding up solutions when customers confront problems in using services.

dSmart increases the potential and capacity of dtac in supervising and monitoring its networks, solving problems faster and preventing them from affecting users. Earlier, network-related data had to be supervised through 20-30 monitors. Today SOC officials can see all the data on a single screen and thus solve customers’ problems faster and more efficiently. For example, if a customer has a problem of EDGE/GPRS connection, officials can find out right away if it results from a network or a wrong mobile phone setting and recommend a solution in no time. If a connection problem results from a network, the system will report the incident on screen automatically so that officials can analyze the problem and solve it before a customer is affected.

“Our goal is to halve the time we need to solve problems in networks. dSmart increases the visibility of overall problems. It enables the monitoring of network performances and thus results in the fast prevention of problems. It also helps analyze the networks and facilitates early plans to service the networks. All these meet our demands to provide customers with positive experiences,” Rolf said.

Dr. Beng Teck Liang, Managing Director of Hewlett-Packard (Thailand) Ltd. said that dtac’s objectives are centered on lowering cost and improving customer service and quality. With HP NGOSS, network and IT processes are streamlined and automated, resulting in savings in dtac’s operational expenditure.

dSmart solution is the HP NGOSS solutions supported by HP Solutions Consulting Services provides dtac with a single view to enable prioritization of business requests and network incident that drives better customer service and business outcomes. By adopting a proactive and automated approach towards the infrastructure and IT management, and coupled with Arantech’s Customer Experience Management touchpointtm system, dtac can effectively identify and rectify problems in real time and in an automated fashion before they occur or impact business and customers.

HP Solutions Consulting Services (SCS) helped dtac define its business and operational needs, focusing on the optimum OSS organization, process and solutions set. SCS also provided project governance throughout the deployment. dtac took advantage of HP COSMOS, a repository of methodologies, best practices and intellectual property gained from more than 400 OSS deployments worldwide.

To enhance the delivery of quality services to dtac’s 19 million customers, HP has integrated the service operation center and network control centre into a one-stop service centre, helping dtac achieve a double-digit reduction in OPEX overhead. In addition, dtac also saw a reduction in operational cost for streamlining and automation of the network and IT management and processes.

“dtac is also able to proactively identify the system or connectivity issues and rectify the problems in real time before it affects the customers. This results in greater customer satisfaction,” Dr. Beng said.

For more photos of dtac's Service Operation Center (SOC), click http://www.dtac.co.th/eng/news/soc.php
About dtac

Total Access Communication Public Company Limited (dtac) is a leading mobile phone operator in Thailand, serving 19.3 million phone numbers to customers (as of third quarter). It was founded in August 1989 and it has been operating as a leading mobile phone operator in the country since then. For more information, please visit www.dtac.co.th.
About HP

HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses and society. The world’s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure to solve customer problems. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com.
The dSmart solution consists of 6 main modules as follows.

- Fault Management boosts monitoring efficiency, enables the visibility of overall problems and discovers the root causes of problems. Consequently problems can be detected and solved quickly.

- Inventory Management System handles unusual incidents. It records every unusual incident so dtac knows what in its systems cause a problem to customers. This allows efficient inventory management.

- Trouble Ticketing System helps cope with the incidents or problems that occur within dtac’s systems or with customers. It also covers the workflow of the company because it enables officials to monitor the status of a problem from the time of detecting the problem to the complete solution of the problem (life cycle). This shortens times needed for solutions.

- Performance Management enables the monitoring of dtac’s network efficiency and quality. It helps us foresee problems before they really happen and affect customers.

- Customer Experience Management helps provide customers with quality services and efficiently check the transmission of voices and data via mobile phones. It can look into the services that customers use when they encounter the problems of signals and mobile phone connectivity. This enables officials to identify the right causes of problems and solve them before customers are aware of any difficulty.

- International Direct Dialling helps monitoring both Outbound and Inbound customer including the customers who make the international call via dtac International Direct Dialling Service. Moreover, This tool also collect all performance data of our of dtac Carrier to ensure their service's reliability and according to the agreed Service Level Agreement.

3G technology and apps already in place

       Although further delays and unclear legal issues continue to hamper the roll-out of 3G in Thailand, it has already been proved that the devices and applications can support the technology. Only network readiness is missing.
       In the seminar "Business Development in Cloud Computing and 3G Technology" by University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, DTAC's Thinakorn Thianprathum said that currently Thailand has 15 million devices ready to connect to mobile wireless broadband networks. The figure is comprised of 10 million installed base computers and 5 million 3G-enabled phones. But there is no available commercial service yet.
       When the network becomes available,it will encourage business development in many areas, especially mobile advertising and internet payments.
       In an existing example, some mobile operators in the UK offer free airtime or text messages to users in return for them accepting mobile advertising.
       It is possible that the system can learn user behaviour and send advertising that suits the individual as well as open more opportunities to sell to target audiences,including traditional media providers.
       Supreecha Limpikanjanakowit, Managing Director of Advanced mPay under AIS, added that when combining broadband and cloud computing technology,IT costs can be significantly reduced because users can use 3G devices to access applications on the cloud.
       Using software as a service will help businesses reduce license costs with a pay-per-use model and standardising IT in the organisation, while scaling use of software can help align business growth.
       That can help businesses stay in touch with the public as well as stimulate internet payments.
       Kittipong Tameyapradit, Senior Executive Vice President at ToT Corpor-ation, said 3G services will enable a better quality of life, especially in distance learning and tele-healthcare in rural areas where Wi-Max and Fiber to the node technology is not suitable or incurs a higher cost of implementation.
       Meanwhile, Peerapol Chatanantavej,True Move's assistant director of 3G marketing, said there are many applications offering consumers a safer and more convenient way to connect wirelessly.
       For example, consumers can use a 3G camera home monitor with built-in 3G sim which can connect to live views and record movements at their home at any time. Or the 3G door phone, which can snap a visitor's picture and send it to the owner via MMS.
       "The door phone can initiate a VDO call to the homeowner if they're not at home," said Peerapol.
       He continued that consumers could also use 3G Wi-Fi routers to share small wireless groups instantly or use 3G Fem-tocell, which acts like a small home base station allowing users to connect to nearby wireless services with an ADSL broadband router.
       Pathom Indarodom, General Manager,AR Information & Publications, shared his view that 3G services in Thailand will help stimulate digital content business opportunities, especially in business applications such as push mail.
       He said wireless broadband will encourage more new services and a 5-10 percent increase in online advertising revenue - although this figure is still behind the global average increase of 20-30 percent.
       The company expects that within two years, 50 percent of notebooks and netbooks will be 3G-enabled, increasing to 70 percent within 5 years. Today, just 5 percent are 3G-ready.
       "Studies show that if 3G is made available in Thailand, it will help boost gross domestic product growth by around 0.3-1 percent," Pathom noted.

Magnificent seven

       In the most important, most revered event since the invention of the brontosaurus trap,Microsoft shipped the most incredibly fabulous operating system ever made; the release of Windows 7 also spurred a new generation of personal computers of all sizes at prices well below last month's offers.The top reason Windows 7 does not suck: There is no registered website called Windows7Sucks.com
       Kindle e-book reader maker Amazon.com and new Nook e-book reader vendor Barnes and Noble got it on; B&N got great reviews for the "Kindle killer"Nook, with dual screens and touch controls so you can "turn" pages, plays MP3s and allows many non-B&N book formats, although not the Kindle one;Amazon then killed the US version of its Kindle in favour of the international one, reduced its price to $260(8,700 baht), same as the Nook; it's not yet clear what you can get in Thailand with a Nook, but you sure can't (yet) get much, relatively speaking, with a Kindle;but here's the biggest difference so far,which Amazon.com has ignored: the Nook lets you lend e-books to any other Nook owner, just as if they were paper books; the borrowed books expire on the borrower's Nook in two weeks.
       Phone maker Nokia of Finland announced it is suing iPhone maker Apple of America for being a copycat; lawyers said they figure Nokia can get at least one, probably two per cent (retail) for every iPhone sold by Steve "President for Life" Jobs and crew via the lawsuit,which sure beats working for it -$6 (200 baht) to $12(400 baht) on 30 million phones sold so far, works out to $400 million or 25 percent of the whole Apple empire profits during the last quarter;there were 10 patent thefts, the Finnish executives said, on everything from moving data to security and encryption.
       Nokia of Finland announced that it is one month behind on shipping its new flagship N900 phone, the first to run on Linux software; delay of the $750(25,000 baht) phone had absolutely no part in making Nokia so short that it had to sue Apple, slap yourself for such a thought.
       Tim Berners-Lee, who created the World Wide Web, said he had one regret:the double slash that follows the "http:"in standard web addresses; he estimated that 14.2 gazillion users have wasted 48.72 bazillion hours typing those two keystrokes, and he's sorry; of course there's no reason to ever type that, since your browser does it for you when you type "www.bangkokpost.com" but Tim needs to admit he made one error in his lifetime.
       The International Telecommunication Union of the United Nations, which doesn't sell any phones or services, announced that there should be a mobile phone charger that will work with any phone; now who would ever have thought of that, without a UN body to wind up a major study on the subject?;the GSM Association estimates that 51,000 tonnes of chargers are made each year in order to keep companies able to have their own unique ones.
       The Well, Doh Award of the Week was presented at arm's length to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development; the group's deputy secretary-general Petko Draganov said that developing countries will miss some of the stuff available on the Internet if they don't install more broadband infrastructure; a report that used your tax baht to compile said that quite a few people use mobile phones but companies are more likely to invest in countries with excellent broadband connections; no one ever had thought of this before, right?
       Sun Microsystems , as a result of the Oracle takeover, said it will allow 3,000 current workers never to bother coming to work again; Sun referred to the losses as "jobs," not people; now the fourth largest server maker in the world, Sun said it lost $2.2 billion in its last fiscal year; European regulators are holding up approval of the Oracle purchase in the hope of getting some money in exchange for not involving Oracle in court cases.
       The multi-gazillionaire and very annoying investor Carl Icahn resigned from the board at Yahoo ; he spun it as a vote of confidence, saying current directors are taking the formerly threatened company seriously; Yahoo reported increased profits but smaller revenues in the third quarter.
       The US House of Representatives voted to censure Vietnam for jailing bloggers; the non-binding resolution sponsored by southern California congresswoman Loretta Sanchez said the Internet is "a crucial tool for the citizens of Vietnam to be able to exercise their freedom of expression and association;"Hanoi has recently jailed at least nine activists for up to six years apiece for holding pro-democracy banners. Iran jailed blogger Hossein "Hoder" Derakshan for 10 months - in solitary confinement.

MAXIS TO RELIST IN SE ASIA'S BIGGEST IPO

       Maxis, Malaysi's top mobile operator, is tipped to receive a warm welcome back to the bourse this month in an IPO worth around $3.43 billion (Bt114.8 billion), billed as the biggest in Southeast Asia's history.
       Maxis, controlled by reclusive Malaysian tycoon Anada Krishnan and Saudi Telecom, is launching the initial public offering (IPO) on Bursa Malasia two years after it was taken private and de-listed.
       It is offering 2.25 billion, or 30 per cent, of its shares at an indicative price of 5.20 ringgit which would raise 11.7 billion ringgit (Bt114.8 billion). Most of the shares will go to institutional investors.
       Nazir Razak, group chief executive of CIMB which is the principal adviser fot he listing exercise, said the IPO will be the biggest in Southeast Asian history.
       Parent company Maxis communications is expected to deploy the proceeds of the sale, slated for November 19, on funding expansion, and to reduce debt.
       The listing includes only Maxis's Malaysian mobile business and excludes its ventures in India and Indonesia which remain under Maxis Communications, the unlisted parent company.
       Alliance Research said Maxis remains the leading mobile operator in Malaysia in both the prepaid and post-paid segments with some 11.4 million subscriptions as at tne of the first half of 2009.
       Its post-paid segment holds a thumping 46.4 per cent of the market, but Alliance said the business had "limited growth prospects, without overseas operations".

CAT seeks 3G bid partners

       Five regional mobile phone operators have shown interest in joining CAT Telecom to bid for a 3G mobile broadband licence from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).
       CAT Telecom president Jirayuth Roongsrithong did not name the operators but said they had overseas experience and could compete with the two local mobile market leaders and their financially strong foreign shareholders.
       True Corp, the third-ranked mobile operator, and some government officials have complained that the current 3G bid terms could favour top-ranked Advanced Info Service and DTAC, which have Temasek of Singapore and Telenor of Norway respectively as major foreign shareholders.
       Mr Jirayuth said CAT has yet to shortlist operators but would start talking in detail with them to be ready if the 3G auction is held in December as the NTC plans.
       The Asian operators believed 3G licences in Thailand would not be very expensive and the price would not deter them from bidding, he added.
       He said CAT was determined to win one of the four licences on offer."If we lose the bid, it may become a crisis for CAT in the future," he said.
       CAT and its state sibling, TOT Plc,rely on revenue-sharing payments from private operators under existing concessions. 3G services would not have the same concession structure.
       CAT currently has only two 10 MHz bandwidth slots to provide its CDMA mobile service and would need more to offer 3G and other more advanced technologies in the future, in his view.
       Mr Jirayuth said the state enterprise and its foreign partners should emerge as strong contenders since CAT has a CDMA network in 51 provinces and plans to buy out partner Hutchison to gain full control of the Hutch CDMA network in the 25 central provinces.
       The two parties have signed a memorandum of understanding and a deal should be concluded by the end of this year, he said.
       As well, CAT also owns the 800 MHz spectrum used by DTAC and 1800 MHz used by True Move.

CPB asked to protect mobile phone users

       The Council of Telecommunication Consumers has lodged a complaint with the Consumer Protection Board, asking it to list mobile phone services as a controlled business.
       The council's chairman, Rerngchai Tansakul, yesterday asked the board to amend the 2000 CPB announcement on contracts to include mobile phone services on the list of businesses whose contracts are controlled by the CPB.
       Mr Rerngchai said the move was needed to protect pre-paid mobile phone users who account for about 90% of mobile phone users nationwide, or 58 million people.
       He also asked the CPB to set up a working panel to amend the announcement and to include members of his council on the team.
       He said his council had conducted a survey of mobile phone users which found that providers had been taking advantage of prepaid mobile phone users.
       The CPB could enact the CPB announcement against mobile phone service providers and launch civil and criminal lawsuits against them, Mr Rerngchai said.

Vietnam rings in 3G

       Telecommunications company Vinaphone has launched its third generation mobile phone service in Vietnam's biggest cities with plans to extend it nationwide.
       Vinaphone's deputy director Ho Duc Thang says the service is currently available in 13 major cities and provinces and will be extended to the remaining 50 provinces over the next three years.
       Earlier this year, military-run Viettel,Vinaphone and MobiFone - which are both run by Vietnam Post & Telecommunications - and a consortium of EVN Telecom and Hanoi Telecom were selected to offer 3G.
       It's unclear when three others will offer their services.
       Mobile phones are increasingly popular in Vietnam, a fast-growing Southeast Asian nation of 86 million.

NORWEGIAN TREND - SPOTTER LEARNS A KEY MANAGEMENT LESSON IN EARLY MONTHS

       "Forget everything you know about Norwegian management and listen carefully" was among the advice offered to DTAC's chief strategy officer, Roar Wiik Andreassen, by Sigve Brekke, chief executive officer of Telenor Asia and the charismatic former leader of DTAC (Total Access Communication), when Andreassen arrived in Bangkok two-and-a-half years ago.
       Still, Andreassen said he was very confused and felt like he was "doing business on the moon" during his initial months after shifting from Norway to Bangkok.
       Though he thought he had prepared himself for working in a new culture and had received tips from his bosses, it was not a smooth adjustment.
       "[It's the kind of thing] you have to experience by yourself," he said.
       Then, after six months, Andreassen said he sat himself down and "started talking to people", getting their feedback and adjusted his working style to suit the local context.
       "It's a very important lesson I have learnt. Taking your culture framework ... believing your culture and working style would work in Thailand: it doesn't," he said.
       Andreassen came to Bangkok to serve as a senior vice president for Telenor Asia.
       He formally assumed his current position as chief strategy officer for DTAC, Telenor's Thai subsidiary, in January, but he has been helping DTAC to prepare its third-generation (3G) network trial run since August.
       The chief strategy officer position was a new post created by DTAC, as was the strategy and business development division he heads. The new post and the new division were created because, after experiencing good growth every year since 2001, Thailand's mobile-phone market has matured with the penetration rate reaching 100 per cent this year, he said.
       "What do we do now ... with business changes, market is changing? We have succeed so far in 'voice' growth; what do we do with the 3G and other businesses including financial services, media businesses, Internet and broadband market, the new devices: should we buy some companies, should we cooperate ...?" said Andreassen, speaking of his main tasks.
       Andreassen said his assignment was to pinpoint a long-term direction for DTAC that will enable Thailand's second-largest cellular-phone network operator to keep growing its business in the next two to four years, while retaining its strength as a flexible organisation. He admitted his task was challenging and that some opportunities he had identi-fied might never materialise, but added that it was a rewarding mission to work with such fun stuff and new devices, and to look at future trends.
       Andreassen said the mobile Internet era was just beginning, and the potential for new mobile services to be offered over the Net and the 3G platform was incredibly vast.
       Every company, including Apple and Nokia and many other IT and telecom firms, now wants to be involved, he said.
       "It's easy to define the [mobile] market as matured, but I think we are only starting and the future will be about mobile Internet."
       On the other hand, Andreassen admitted that the emergence of "Internet terminals" like the iPhone and cheap Internet calling services like Skype were a threat for telecom operators, and said it was difficult to predict who would survive thse new trends.
       "[The] threat is coming closer and closer. But telecom operators will adjust or team up; they may take revenue sharing or partnership [with other companies]," he said.
       Positive attitude
       Andreassen agreed his task of spotting future trends and business opportunities required an optimistic outlook.
       "What makes me happy is not the numbers or technologies, but working with people ... being with friends, family, my children. Exercise, making jokes, laughter. I like laughing and making jokes at work," he said.
       While working very hard, being professional, taking responsibility and respecting one another were all vital, Andreassen said, he also believes that one should find a balance. So there's a lot of laughter and a lot of fun in the workplaces he runs.
       Compared to working in Scandinavia, Andreassen said working in Thailand required fewer formal meetings and a closer follow-up on details, to get the same results. As a foreign executive one should be aware of cultural differences, and remember that lacking language skills means you can't know everything going on at the company, and could easily misunderstand something, he said.
       Citing his own lessons learned during the first six months of working in Bangkok, Andreassen said he believes people can learn from their mistakes more than from their successes, and thus they should not be afraid of making mistakes.
       "Let people make mistakes, because you progress and you learn something. Celebrate your success and learn from your mistakes. Don't punish people who make mistakes," he said.
       Prior to joining Telenor Asia in Bangkok in early 2007, Andreassen was CEO of Telenor Real Estate, which had a turnover of 1.2 billion Norwegian kroner (Bt7 billion) and about 200 employees.
       He began his work with the Telenor Group in 2001 as its finance director overseeing extensive organisational changes to the group's finance and accounting functions.
       In 2004, he took the post of chief financial officer for Avinor Group, a company that operates 46 airports in Norway, before returning to take charge of Telenor Real Estate.
       Andreassen graduated with a master's degree in Business and Economics in 1995 from the Norwegian School of Management, BI Sandvika, and a BA in Business and Economics from Harstad University College.
       Before studying in Economics, he took a one-year course in philosophy studies at the University of Bergen in 1989.

TOT fixing pay phones

       TOT Plc is spending 50 million baht to improve its pay telephones to accommodate new coins.
       The state enterprise expects to modify 40,000 telephones across the country by early next year and 200,000 by yearend next year.
       TOT president Varuth Suvakorn said the improvements became necessary after the Treasury Department minted new one-, two-, five- and 10-baht coins,changed the metal used in the one- and two-baht coins and changed the weight and density of the five-baht coin.
       The new coins were released in August,and some TOT pay phones were unable to accommodate them.
       The phone modifications are timeconsuming and cost 600 to 700 baht per phone, he said. Work is now under way and unmodified phones return new coins that are not recognised.
       Mr Varuth said that although revenues from coin-operated phones had declined steadily, TOT continued to maintain the quality of the service.
       TOT has about 200,000 public phones,with 30,000 of them card-operated.

ICT MINISTER WANTS REVIEW OF 3G LICENCE AUCTION

       Information and Communications Technology Minister Ranongruk Suwanchawee said yesterday she would ask the government to tell the national telecom watchdog to review the licence and auction conditions of the 3G-2.1GHz licences.
       She cited concerns that the licensing would affect the revenues of TOT and CAT Telecom and would pave the way for foreign firms to gobble up the Thai telecom industry.
       The minister has already ordered TOT and CAT to work out the possible affects on their revenues because of the licensing and send a proposal to her on Monday before she approaches Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on the matter.
       Ranongruk said that she had learned from watching TNN channel of True Visions that the 3G licence auction by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) would give a chance to foreign firms to fully enter the Thai market.
       The telecom law and Foreign Business Act each caps the foreign shareholding in Thai telecom operators at 49 per cent.
       She added that TOT and CAT both have the potential to develop 3G services.
       "We have to trust TOT. If we don't trust it, who will? Both TOT and CAT have contributed a great deal of revenue to the country. Why don't we give them a chance?" she said.
       The NTC has set December 8 as the tentative date to auction four licences to use the 2.1GHz spectrum to develop the 3G wireless broadband service.
       NTC chairman Choochart Phromprasid said he would apprise the premier on all matters on Monday. The NTC has invited the premier to give a speech on the role of national independent regulators in the country's development.
       Choochart said that TOT had once asked the NTC to delay the auction plan but in the watchdog's view, the country lagged behind other countries in the 3G-service development.
       He said that TOT and CAT were granted the joint ownership rights of the 1,900 MHz spectrum band - part of the 2.1GHz spectrum - since 2000 by the now defunct Frequency Allocation Panel. But they have not yet shown any progress in developing the service.
       CAT has just finished transferring its joint ownership rights to TOT and allowed it to solely own the 1,900 MHz spectrum for developing the 3G service. Choochart added that the auction conditions do not allow firms with 100-per-cent foreign shareholding to bid for the licences but the conditions comply with the telecom law and the Foreign Business Act.
       Ranongruk said she wondered why the auction prohibited state telecom agencies from bidding for the licences.
       However, TOT chairman of the board, Teravuti Boonyasopon, said that TOT does not want to enter the bid but wants to see the auction take place after the end of the private telecom concession terms.
       One 3G licence auction condition prohibits an owner of a 3G spectrum band from bidding for the licences. TOT owns the 1,900 MHz band, which is part of the 3G-2.1GHz spectrum.
       NTC deputy secretary-general Suranan Wongvithayakamjorn said CAT is likely to be qualified to bid for the licences.
       Earlier, the NTC was uncertain if CAT could bid for the licences, as the Finance Ministry owns 100 per cent shares in CAT and TOT, and TOT owns the 1,900 MHz.
       CAT chief executive officer Jirayuth Rungsrithong said that CAT is interested in bidding for the licences.
       Teravuti said TOT also wanted to see that those interested in providing the 3G service do so via the TOT's upcoming 3G networks only and on the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) basis. An MVNO is a company without its own network but leases airtime of others to provide the cellular service.
       TOT is upgrading its existing 1,900 MHz network in Bangkok and Greater Bangkok to 3G technology and will roll out the new 3G network nationwide.
       Teravuti is concerned that once they get the 3G licences,. the telecom operators will move their existing subscribers from the state concessions to the 3G licences to save the huge regulatory cost. This will affect the revenue of TOT.
       Currently the mobile-phoen service concessions have contributed an average 20 per cent of their revenue as concession fees. The total annual 3G licences cost it expected to account for only 6 per cent of revenues.
       TOT owns the concession of Thailand's largest cellular operator Advanced Info Service, which has paid at least Bt10 billion of the concession fee a year to TOT.
       Meanwhile, True, the parent company of True Visions, strongly opposed the 3G licence auction during the 3G public hearing on Monday, arguing that the method favours big telecom operators over smaller ones. True also aruged that the telecom industry is a matter of national security and hence the NTC should not award 3G licences to foreign firms.

3G AUCTION MAY BE HELD ON DECEMBER 8

       The national telecom regulator has set December 8 as the tentative date for the auction of four 3G-2.1GH licences, commissioner Sethaporn Cusripituck said yesterday.
       A source at the National Telecommunica-tions Commission said the NTC expected to finalise the range of the reserve price for each licence at between US$150 million and $200 million (Bt5 billion-Bt6.7 billion).
       The reserve price is the minimum amount the NTC expects to gain from each licence auction.
       The watchdog will hold a board meeting next Wednesday to finalise the details, including the auction date, reserve price and bid starting price.
       Sethaporn said the board would discuss whether it would reveal the reserve price, and whether the reserve price and the starting bid price should be the same.
       The meeting will also see the watchdog finalising the contingency plan in the event of the number of those qualified to bid for the four licences being the same as or lower than the actual number of licences.
       The NTC is concerned that if this were to be the case, there would be no genuine competition in the bidding.
       Sethaporn said that if this were to happen, the NTC might not inform the qualified bidders of the number of bidders they are contending with. It might also surprise them by putting up fewer than four licences in the auction, in order to promote competition.
       NTC secretary-general Suranan Wongvithayakamjorn said investors from India, Malaysia and Indonesia had asked the NTC for details of the auction, but he declined to specify their names.
       NTC member Sudharma Yoonaidharma said he was opposed to holding the 3G licence auction so soon, as the national regulator had yet to come up with much crucial information for potential bidders.
       He said that before the auction, the NTC should provide a comprehensive map of the details of all telecom networks in Thailand, so that those who are not current operators could clearly ascertain where they could roll out networks should they be awarded a licence.
       He added that the NTC auction plan seemed to favour incumbent operators. Moreover, it seems the NTC's granting of the 3G licences has been publicly perceived as a way for the private telecom concession |holders to move customers from the concessions to the 3G licences in order to reduce their costs.
       The private mobile-phone concession holders have to pay an average of 20 per cent of their revenue to one of the state concession owners, TOT and CAT Telecom. A 3G licence, however, is expected to cost them 6 per cent of their revenue per year.
       Sudharma said he wanted to see Thai companies having a chance to win or share in the benefits from the 3G licences. He stressed that he did not mean True Corp, as True is a giant Thai telecom operator, but rather the smaller domestic companies.
       In the NTC's public hearing on 3G licence and auction conditions this past Monday, True strongly opposed many points, including licences being granted via the auction process, citing that the method favoured large companies over smaller operators.
       Senator Anan Woratitipong yesterday said the 3G licence auction would stimulate economic growth, given that it would lead to huge investment by bid winners in terms of licence payment and then network roll-out, which would create jobs.
       Anan does not expect the auction bidding to rise too high.
       The NTC, which marked its fifth anniversary yesterday, has invited Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to give a speech on Monday on the role of the independent regulator in the country's development.
       Meanwhile, the watchdog returns money to the state coffers every year after deducting expenses from the regulatory fees it collects.
       NTC deputy-secretary-general Takorn Tantansit said it had returned Bt158 million in the first year of establishment, Bt839 million in the second year, Bt795 million in the third and Bt2.6 billion last year.
       It is expected to return Bt1.3 billion to the government this year.

Bharti and MTN scrap merger talks

       India's top mobile company Bharti Airtel on Wednesday called off merger talks with South Africa's MTN Group aimed at creating an emerging market powerhouse, blaming South Africa's political leaders.
       The South African government "has expressed its inability to accept it (the proposed deal) in the current form" and "in view of this, both companies have taken the decision to disengage from discussion," Bharti said in a statement.
       The collapse of the politically sensitive talks marked the second time the two companies had failed to forge an alliance.They called off similar talks in May 2008.
       A merger would have created the world's third-largest mobile operator by subscribers that would have dominated two of the globe's fastest-growing emerging markets - India and Africa.
       Bharti's statement came hours before the expiry of the deadline for conclusion of the exclusive merger discussions,which had already been extended twice.
       The South African government rejected Bharti's allegation it had scuppered the estimated $24-billion deal, saying the move to scrap the talks had been a joint decision by MTN and Bharti.
       MTN said separately that both companies had been unable to strike a deal "within the economic, legal and regulatory framework within which both companies operate."
       It hailed the "positive and constructive" nature of the talks and the "cooperation and supportive approach" of the South African and Indian governments.
       Bharti, which wants to be a global telecoms giant, hung up on talks with MTN in May 2008 after the South African firm proposed an ownership structure that the Indian company said would have made it "a subsidiary of MTN."
       This time, however, Bharti said, the proposed deal recognised both companies as "national champions" and its structure took into account "their leadership in their respective geographies to ensure continuity of business."
       Under the proposed deal, Bharti would have been the biggest shareholder in the new group, taking a 49% stake in MTN while MTN shareholders would have had a 36% stake in Bharti.
       The Indian company said it would "continue to explore international expansion opportunities," without elaborating.
       "Bharti needs to go abroad because it's already the top Indian player," said an industry analyst, who asked not to be named.

Sound familiar?

       Your TOT crossed its heart and hoped to die if it fails to have actual third-generation mobile phone service in a little corner of Bangkok before New Year's Eve; Vichien Narkseenuan, the firm's senior executive president for vice, said he expects to sign a deal Real Soon Now with a socalled mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that will carry the TOT service,although no names, please; Mr Vichien promised "about" 500,000 numbers would be available; real yuppiephone networks scoffed at the TOT offer to let them in on the deal, because they fear that if they rent a network now, the National Telecommunications Commission won't let them bid for a licence to run their own 3G services.
       Vichien Narkseenuan, the senior executive president of vice for your TOT ,said that the state monopoly plans to open a third-generation (3G) phone service with 100,000 numbers, and serving the entire country; TOT has no intention of building its own base stations,though, and will rent them from real phone companies; Mr Vichien forgot to mention when this nationwide 3G service might start for the lucky 100,000.
       The National Telecommunications Commission announced it will open public hearings on third generation phones next Monday; Prasert Aphipunya, secretary in charge of vice for the NTC, said you should bring along a large truck load of money if you want to start the bidding for licences, say,oh, somewhere around 10 billion-witha-"b" baht; after next weeks' hearing,there will be a notice in the Royal Gazette ,and actual bidding for four (and only four) available licences may open as early as December; rules on all of this should be up on the NTC's website by now at www.ntc.co.th.
       For the third time in a row, the strug-gling TT&T company won a multibillion-baht lawsuit against your TOT and for the third time in a row your TOT told them to pound sand; this time,an agree-upon arbitrator decided that TOT owed the up-country phone provider 2.3 billion baht in misguided revenue sharing for long distance calls;but TOT president Varut Suvakorn rejected the arbitration and told TT&T,"See ya in court, boys"; in case the Administrative Court rules against TOT yet again, Mr Varut said he was pretty sure the state firm didn't have that kind of money to pay off anyhow; TT&T explained that lawsuit number four is about to be filed.
       No 2 yuppiephone firm DTAC of Norway opened its new headquarters in new Chamchuri Square , bragging that it spent one billion baht on the 19-floor (!) digs; all 3,200 DTAC employees relocated from the Chai Building to the new location at the Sam Yan intersection,overlooking Chulalongkorn University;CEO Tore Johnsen signed a 10-year lease for the 61,160-square-metre office,which includes the firm's main call centre; Mr Johnsen said new staff will work harder to pay the extra rent money; the kicker is that DTAC is asking the following price for the Chai Building one billion baht; Mr Johnsen said that DTAC was pressing ahead aggressively on its 3G trials and so on and etc and zzzzzzz.
       Energy Minister Wannarat Channukul, apparently unaware that you can't spell "Thaksin" without "hub", said that Asean should become the energy exporting hub of the world; no, really,his reasoning is that Southeast Asia has so much food that it can make biofuels galore and sell it to the world at Arabesque profits; not only does Southeast Asia (sic) have a lot of extra food to feed the world's cars, it's, well, better "higher yields and more commercially viable for biofuel than corn and beetroot" from the US and Europe; to coin a phrase, in the klongs there are fish and in the fields there are biofuels.
       Energy Minister Wannarat Channukul called in state firms and phuyai of the private sector for a heart-to-heart joint statement that everyone would cooperate on saving energy; this year's spin is that the programme will "save"100 billion baht, and Mr Wannarat got away unchallenged with a claim that a similar project last year saved 30 billion baht; the deal is that the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) and the Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC) and so on - 30,000 firms altogether - will work on conservation, purchase green technology and so on, and in return they will get some tax breaks and subsidies on loans taken through the energy services company fund (Esco); the minister is looking for one billion baht to fund Esco this year.

A piece of the action

       And the crowd went wild as Steve "President for Life" Jobs of Apple Computer came out on the stage to emcee the now-annual September music sales pitch, with loads of new stuff; in the biggest news, the iPod Nano got a video camera and FM radio, and Steve showed off the new iTunes Ver 9 management software; he also showed off the iPhone OS 3.1, available for download, which actually recommends apps you might like, has better synching for music and video, and lets you save video from email attachments into your playlist, aka Camera Roll.
       Apple cut the prices of its old iPod models just hours ahead of announcing new iPod models; the price of the 32-gigabyte iPod Touch was cut $120 to $279, or 9,500 baht in real money; a 120-gig iPod Classic now costs $229, a $20 cut by the generous folks who run Apple. Palm introduced a smaller,cheaper smartphone than the successful Pre; the Pixi, as it's called, is aimed at younger users; it's slimmer, has a smaller screen, but features a Qwerty keyboard,8GB of memory and a two-megapixel camera.
       US President Barack Obama, in a controversial school-time speech to most US children, advised them to be careful about what they put on Facebook and other social networks;"Whatever you do, it will be pulled up again later somewhere in your life," he warned.
       First Solar of America signed a contract with the Chinese government to build the world's largest solar power plant in Inner Mongolia; assuming it is built, the Ordos City plant will push out 2,000 megawatts of electricity,around four times the size of the projects being built by the US Army in the Mojave Desert and by First Solar in California;the China project isn't near anything much; Ordos City is a coal-producing,eight-year-old, planned low-carbon development with about 1.5 million residents, roughly 800km west of Beijing.
       Networking firm Huawei of China,which has suffered a scandal or two in its Thailand work, was stung to the quick by mean stories in the Australian media that it might be tied to the Chinese espionage services; Guo Fulin, managing director of Huawei in Australia, was hurt by the insensitive stories that his company was under investigation by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation; Huawei is a public-owned company, he said, and it is unthinkable that any government agency would be using Huawei to conduct spying.
       The government of Cuba took a huge security gamble, and authorised post offices to provide Internet access to the public - just in case the Cuban government ever authorises the public to use the Internet at some point in the future; the only public access currently allowed is to an inside-Cuba intranet for email, provided by post offices at a cost of the equivalent of 55 baht an hour, in a country where the average wage is 680 baht a month.
       Japan fired an unmanned cargo craft into orbit; the 16.5-tonne unmanned H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) is on a mission to re-supply the space station;it will stay up there to continue ferrying stuff to the US shuttle fleet next year.
       Prime Minister Gordon Brown publicly apologised for the way that people treated World War Two code-breaker and extraordinary computer geek Alan Turing for being gay; Turing was prosecuted for homosexual conduct in 1952,and a mere two years later, he committed suicide;"I am pleased to have the chance how deeply sorry I and we all are," said Mr Brown.
       Google , which plans to give away grazillions of books in order to get the (commercial) goods on its customers,offered to let all its opponents have a piece of the action;Amazon.com , which wants to sell grazillions of books to make tonnes of money directly, scoffed.Rupert Murdoch, the American media mogul, began collecting money at the tollgate to his news sites, in an interesting experiment to see if people will actually pay for news on the Net.
       IBM, Microsoft, Oracle Corp and Google all responded to a plaintive "Help" from the Newspaper Association of America on how to get money from customers who don't want to pay for news; Randy Bennett, who is the senior president for vice in newspapers, said he's looking over 11 different proposals on how to squeeze money out of you;Google, to no one's surprise, offered to put all newspapers behind one vast,semi-expensive firewall, because that would be so convenient for everyone to just pay one company one time, and then Google would spread the money around; sure, that ought to work.
       South African technology firm Unlimited IT dispatched Winston, a pigeon,from its office in Pietermaritzburg, with some data for its main hub in Durban strapped to the bird's leg; it took Winston one hour and eight minutes to fly the data card; meanwhile, Unlimited IT tried to send the same data via the speedchallenged Internet connections provided by leading Internet Telkom , and that download was four percent finished by the time Winston arrived; so it's not only countries that start with "T" that have Internet problems.
       T-Mobile of Germany and Orange of France merged their yuppiephone operations in Britain, creating a new $13.5 billion company with 28.4 mobile phone customers; the Deutsche Telekom-France Telecom venture will be the biggest provider in the UK, with a 37 percent market share, larger than O2 of Telefonica.

Jasmine orders TT&T to cede control of Maxnet after ruling

       Jasmine International Plc has given TT&T Plc an ultimatum to stop operating a broadband internet service through an affiliate, claiming the business unit is majority owned by Jasmine.
       The parent of the provincial fixedline telephone and internet provider said it was asserting its right to take over Triple T Broadband, based on the fact that it owns a 91% stake in the internet provider.
       The assertion came in a letter to TT&T after the Central Bankruptcy Court approved the appointment of P Planner to prepare the debt rehabilitation plan for TT&T, according to a TT&T shareholder.
       The executive said TT&T had threatened to cancel broadband bill payment services at its nationwide customer service centres for Triple T if Jasmine takes over the business. In addition, TT&T threatened to sue Jasmine if the latter cuts off its copper cable or optical-fibre network without permission.
       In the letter, Jasmine ordered TT&T Subscriber Service, another subsidiary of TT&T, to stop managing the MaxNet broadband service as it is causing confusion among customers. Jasmine said it neither hired nor requested TT&T Subscriber to run the business.
       Triple T Broadband has not run the business in compliance with Jasmine's policies and disagreed with its manage-ment plan, which is causing severe damage to the broadband unit, Jasmine said.
       Also, as TT&T is entering into rehabilitation, it urgently needs to put most of its efforts into restructuring debt, creating a new business plan and restructuring the organisation, Jasmine said."We want TT&T to stop running the broadband management and revenue collection,and transfer customers from its network."
       TT&T is planning to restructure 21 billion baht in debt. Of all, 18 billion baht consists of long-term obligations of five to 10 years, and the remaining 3 billion represent supplier credits. Of that amount,45% of the debts are owed to a dozen local financial institutions, with the rest to foreign creditors.
       Jasmine also said that TT&T could not ban customers from paying bills at its facilities because the company had informed the Revenue Department that Triple T was allowed to legally use the centres for bill services.
       "We have the right to fully control the broadband unit and TT&T has no right to intervene," the letter said, adding that TT&T held only a 9% stake in Triple T Broadband.
       Triple T, with 10 million baht in registered capital, previously was wholly owned by TT&T. But TT&T failed to inject money into the company when it needed to raise its capital to 110 million baht, resulting in Jasmine becoming the major shareholder.

Ericsson aims to serve local 3G operators

       Ericsson is building its local professional services to grab emerging opportunities from the development of a local 3G mobile phone service.
       The Swedish telecom equipment manufacturer expects to see substantial growth in its local professional services next year. It hopes the new service will create a long-term revenue stream for the company over the next few years.
       The value of the professional services market exceeds the amount that needs to be invested over the next few years to develop a 3G network, said Peter Borjesson, vice-president of the network services division at Ericsson Thailand.
       The three major mobile-phone service providers - AIS, DTAC and True Move - plan to invest a combined 100 billion baht to set up local 3G networks.
       After establishing a strong footprint in the US and Europe, Ericsson is stepping up efforts in Thailand to bundle its professional services with sales of its 3G network equipment to position itself as a end-to-end 3G service supplier.
       The professional services unit covers management services, network deployment, systems integration and consulting.The company commands slightly more than 10% of the global professional services market. The professional services unit contributed 38% of total sales revenue last year. "The total number of subscribers in our managed operations is now 350 million, representing about 25% of total mobile phone users globally," said Mr Borjesson.
       "Given our competitive scale and skills, plus the local business presence, we are now ready to promote our services by working in partnership with network operators."
       More complex network architecture and the increasing trend for operators to outsource IT services, Mr Borjesson said the company would focus on its core businesses and trying to reduce costs for clients.
       Chinese firms are aggressively promoting their 3G network technology but this does not mean the business opportunity has closed for Ericsson, he said.
       Ericsson can draw strength from its global brand presence while smaller operators have yet to establish themselves. Ericsson won the first-ever agreement for a commercial end-to-end 3G system from Thai Mobile for a nationwide mobile network integrating GSM and 3G.

Telco buys cable-TV operator

       Taiwan Mobile Co, the country's second-largest phone carrier, agreed yesterday to buy cable television operator Kbro Co from Carlyle Group for NT$32.8 billion (US$1 billion) in stock and cash to become the market leader.
       "Carlyle will get 589 million shares in Taiwan Mobile and NT$440 million cash," Harvey Chang, president of the Taipei-based operator, said.
       "Carlyle will own 15.5% of Taiwan Mobile, making it the second-largest shareholder," the two companies said in separate statements.
       Chang seeks to use Taiwan Mobiles cable television business, its fastestgrowing division, to boost revenue from so-called convergence services that combine phone, Internet and television. The transaction will raise its share of the cable television market from 6.6% to 32%, with almost 1.6 million customers,making it the industry's largest provider.
       "The deal makes strategic sense as it gives them better economies of scale,"said Vivek Couto, executive director of Hong Kong-based Media Partners Asia Ltd."The growth in cable TV will come from the switch to digital TV and broadband Internet, where they can boost revenue per user."
       Couto estimated the combined company would surpass China Network Systems Inc, controlled by MBK Partners Ltd, and Taiwan Broadband Communications, owned by Macquarie Media Group, by number of subscribers.
       "The transaction is based on a mutually agreed price of NT$55 apiece for Taiwan Mobile stock," the carrier's spokeswoman Rosie Yu told Bloomberg News, without providing further details.
       Revenue at Taiwan Mobiles cable TV and broadband Internet division climbed 22% in the second quarter from a year earlier to NT$1.34 billion, the only one of its three operating divisions to record sales growth, according to a company presentation.
       Consolidated revenue for the company dropped 1% to NT$17.4 billion during the period, according to the presentation.
       "The most significant part of this transaction on the long-term business implication is we have acquired direct access to more than a million households in the urban areas," Chang said."That will provide us with a very substantial platform to provide the convergence services."
       Carlyle, the Washington-based private equity firm, bought a majority stake in Kbro in 2006.
       The cash payment would be made from Taiwan Mobiles existing holdings while the company may seek to refinance approximately NT$24 billion in debt it will assume as part of the transaction,spokeswoman Josephine Juan told Bloomberg News.
       "The shares will be issued out of Taiwan Mobiles existing treasury shareholding," she said.
       "Taiwan Mobile may sell corporate bonds or sign a syndicated loan as it looks to reduce the interest burden on the debt it will assume," Juan said.
       "Taiwan Mobile expects to close the deal within nine months after getting shareholder and regulatory approval,"she said.

AIS will co-operate on 3G resources with TOT

       Advanced Info Service says it welcomes TOT Plc's decision to share its resources in providing third-generation or 3G mobile phone services and expects its revenues from 3G to rise 5-10%.
       AIS chief executive Wichien Mektrakarn said the 3G services, operated by its subsidiary Advance Wireless Network (AWN), would help raise its revenue by at least 5-10%. The business is much more lucrative than voice services in which it has to share 30% of postpaid revenue and 20% of prepaid revenue with TOT.
       AIS set up AWN to apply for a 3G licence on the 2.1 Gigahertz spectrum.
       As a concessionaire of TOT, AIS is willing to share its resources and ready to co-operate with the state telecom enterprise but more details need to be discussed.
       For instance, Mr Wichien said that in most cases AIS could allow TOT to share its resources and space rents at base stations. But for some stations where the transmission capacities are full, AIS could not allow TOT to share the resources, he said.
       Meanwhile, TOT board spokesman Ratian Srimangkol said the TOT board would not worry about a dwindling revenue share from AIS if the mobile-phone operator migrated its existing 28 million customers to its subsidiary AWN through attractive promotions. This was because TOT strongly believes that not all of AIS's customers need data services and many would be reluctant to pay more for 3G services.
       They would still adhere to the 2.5G service provided by AIS which is operated under the concession from TOT.
       He also said TOT's scheduled introduction of 3G services would be moved forward to Dec 2 from Dec 5, with the first phase covering Bangkok and having 500 base stations for 550,000 numbers.
       Four telecom operators have shown interest in being TOT's mobile virtual network operators.
       Mr Ratian said TOT was currently in talks as well with DTAC and True Move to share resources for 3G services.
       At the same time, National Telecommunications Commission chairman Gen Choochart Promprasit said a public hearing for 3G licensing regulations and auctions would be held on Sept 28.

CAT gauges Hutch value

       CAT Telecom says it will hire a financial consultant this week to assess the value of the Hutchison CDMA mobile network covering 25 central provinces before concluding a takeover deal within 60 days.
       Krisada Kaweeyarn, executive chairman of the CAT board, said the takeover would allow the state telecom enterprise to integrate marketing and apply a singlenetwork strategy also in its own CDMA network covering the other 51 provinces.
       Hong Kong-based Hutchison has invested 40 billion baht in the Hutch CDMA network and operates it under a subsidiary named BFKT.
       The network was leased to CAT to provide service. Hutchison CAT Wireless Multimedia, a joint venture held 26%by CAT and 74% by Hutchison, is the marketing arm of the service. The service has only 900,000 customers in a market of 65 million, as CDMA has struggled to compete with the GSM mobile standard.
       Mr Krisada said that a buyout proposal had been talked about for two years.
       CAT's provincial CDMA network has a capacity of 3 million numbers but only 300,000 users.
       The buyout will be among the challenges for CAT president, Jirayuth Roongsrithong, whose appointment was endorsed on Sept 9 by the Finance Ministry. His performance will be evaluated every six months.

TRUE SEEKS CHANGE IN 3G AUCTION RULES

       CEO calls for level playing field for local and foreign operators
       True Corp chief executive officer Supachai Chearavanont has called for a review of some conditions of the auction of 2.1GHz-3G spectrum licences to create a level playing field for Thai and foreign telecom operators.
       One condition set by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) requires bid-winners to pay for the licences in full within 14 days of the auction.
       True is the parent of True Move, the only cellular operator without a foreign strategic partner.
       Advanced Info Service has teamed up with Singapore Telecom, while Norwegian telecom giant Telenor is partnering Total Access Communication.
       The NTC, which intends to auction four of the licences in December, will hold a public hearing on the auction guidelines on Sept 28. NTC chairman Choochart Phromprasid said late last week that some auction conditions could be changed after the hearing to lessen the burden on bidders.
       True simply cannot compete with the foreign operators in terms of funding, Supachai said.
       "Do you want us to be knocked out? I'll demand at the public hearing that some auction conditions be amended, and I'll fight until I'm knocked out," a laughing Supachai said.
       If the bid-winners have to spend a great deal to win the licences, they are likely to pass the burden on to customers, who will ultimately be the ones who suffer, he said.
       Aside from having had to spend considerable sums to develop the 3G network and service, the bid-winners will also have to set aside funds to keep up as the network evolves to incorporate 4G technology and beyond, Supachai said.
       A telecom industry source said it appears that True has no choice but to seek a partner in order to raise the necessary funds to bid for a 3G licence and develop the service.
       The cost of rolling out a 3G network has been estimated at about Bt20 billion a year for the first three years.
       True is in the process of deciding whether to bid for the licence first and seek a strategic partner later, or do it the other way round, Supachai said.
       The firm has reportedly been approached by several foreign telecom operators about entering into a strategic partnership.
       Agricultural conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group owns about 58 per cent of True.
       The telecom operator is keen to bid for |the 15 MHz-bandwidth licence, Supachai said.
       The NTC will auction off four 3G licences; one with a bandwidth of 15 MHz and three with 10 MHz bandwidths.
       In a separate development, TOT spokesman Rathien Srimongkol said late last week that the firm's 3G network would be up and running before the NTC completes its auction process.
       TOT is upgrading its 1,900 MHz cellular network in greater Bangkok to incorporate 3G technology. The upgrade is scheduled to be finished in early December.
       TOT will also spend about Bt20 billion to roll out a new 3G network nationwide for lease to a telecom operator, which will provide retail 3G services. The project is awaiting Cabinet approval.
       The NTC has barred TOT from bidding for a 3G licence, as it has its own 1,900 MHz spectrum band, which is part of the 2.1 GHz spectrum.
       The issue of whether CAT Telecom can enter the bidding has yet to be resolved. The Finance Ministry owns 100 percent of both CAT and TOT, while TOT owns the 1,900 MHz spectrum.

Hutchison selling network to CAT

       CAT Telecom is expected to wrap up negotiations to buy the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) 2000 1-x cellular network in 25 provinces from Hong Kong telecom giant Hutchison Telecom in December.

       CAT's chairman of the executive committee, Krisda Kaweeyarn, said yesterday that the Hong Kong telecom informed CAT two weeks ago its agreement to sell the network to CAT.
       In the next step CAT will appoint a financial adviser to conduct due diligence in the transaction while asking Hutchison Telecom to sign the network sales memorandum of understanding with CAT.
       "After the MoU, we'll talk with Hutchison Telecom on more details of the network purchase. We expect to conclude the deal in December," he added.
       CAT operates its CDMA network in 51 provinces, while Hutchison-CAT Wireless Multimedia provides the cellular service on the separate CDMA network in 25 provinces under the Hutch brand and under CAT's service-marketing agreement.
       Hutchison-CAT, the join venture of CAT and Hutchison Telecom, has leased the CDMA network in 25 provinces from BFKT, wholly owned subsidiary of Hutchison Telecom, to provide the cellular service. CAT wants to merge the two separate CDMA networks to enhance the service offering.
       Krisda said that after the complete transaction, CAT would terminate the BFKT network-leasing agreement and Hutchison-CAT service marketing agreement. Then CAT will seek a partner to jointly provide the service on the merged network.
       He said that telecom operators in the US, China, South Korea and Japan have shown interest in being CAT's partner in the matter, given that they have provided the CDMA service in their countries as well.
       In a related matter, the CAT board directors will convene on Wednesday to officially appoint Jirayuth Rungsrithong as the state agency's new president.

Bangkok ready for 3G trial

       After years of waiting, Thailand's number two mobile operator DTAC has finally launched its 3G service on a limited trial basis in Bangkok on the 850 MHz frequency.But behind the cheers and promise of a revolution in broadband access, the future of 3G - and indeed 4G - remains as cloudy today as it ever was.
       Speaking at the pseudo-military styled launch, DTAC CEO Tore Johnsen spoke of the advent of 3G in Thailand as a revolution in broadband Internet access.Broadband penetration in Thailand reaches only 2 percent of the population,with sixteen million users. The world average is 10 percent. Closer to home,comparable markets such as Vietnam and Malaysia have double and four times Thailand's penetration, respectively.
       The situation is the way it is because 75 percent of people in Thailand do not have access to a fixed line and therefore have missed out on the first phase of broadband through ADSL (asynchronous digital subscriber line). Furthermore, half of Thailand's seven to eight million phone lines are concentrated in Bangkok.
       On the other hand, Thailand has virtually 100 percent mobile penetration and DTAC believes that mobile will be the way forward for Internet access.HSPA (high speed packet access) 3G has the potential to provide true broadband access to everyone wherever,whenever and on whatever size screen is needed.
       DTAC Chief Strategy Officer Roar Wiik Andreassen explained that the first phase of the non-commercial trial, and he did stress that it was a free, noncommercial trial, consisting of 18 base stations in Bangkok starting around the Sam Yan area.
       DTAC maintains its earlier statement that there is no need for technical trials of 3G given that it is a very mature and stable technology. Rather, these trials were aimed at better understanding the usage patterns and expectations of Thai consumers.2,000 volunteers were selected from over 10,000 applicants consisting of teens, young adults, working professionals to test their user experience gather feedback for the future commercial 850 MHz and 2100 MHz 3G launches.
       The focus at this time is very much the big screen (the notebook, as opposed to a handheld smartphone) and USB modem stick.
       850 MHz 3G does suffer from a lack of handsets in the local market with most phone manufacturers choosing to import European 900/2100 MHz 3G phones rather than the mainly Australian 850/2100 handsets. Andreassen said he was in talks with handset manufacturers,including, but not limited to, Nokia, to provide more 850/2100 phones in the market.
       "Today, the Apple iPhone and Blackberry Bold are both 850/2100 so there are 850-ready handsets, but we are not happy with the current 850 situation and we would like to encourage more 850/2100," he said.
       More generally across Asia, it is still very much open as to whether 850/2100 or 900/2100 is more important to handset makers. In Europe, many telcos are eager to refarm GSM 900 for HSPA, as it provides much better long-range coverage and penetration than 2100.
       The network is an HSDPA (downlink)and HSUPA (uplink) network with a theoretical maximum downlink speed of 7.2 MBPS. Users can expect 500 KBPS during peak times and around 1 to 1.5 MBPS typical speeds off-peak.
       For the test phase, no particular Inter-net technology will be blocked as this is very much about learning about what users use mobile broadband for.
       While some mobile operators in the west have a strong aversion to Skype and all forms of Voice over IP, peer-topeer file transfers and and video streaming, Andreassen said that in general,blocking something only makes the customer angry and it is better to manage usage probably through capped usage quotas and reduced speeds once the cap is reached, rather than blocking something outright.
       Pricing has also yet to be decided.The only thing he said is that it would be a simple, flexible pricing plan, probably based on time rather than on data throughput.
       Andreassen said that DTAC is 100 percent focused on the big screen (notebook) for the period of the trial as the main market is broadband in a country with limited fixed line penetration. In the future, it will come to the small screen (handheld) and DTAC will reconsider its position on 3G there later.
       "I think the picture will become blurry with the new Nokia [N900 tablet]. It will be more about where you use it,and for what kind of content," he added.
       DTAC has two 5 MHz blocks in the 8503G spectrum left over from its old analogue 1G days, though there has been a lot of heated discussion in the past as to whether it can be simply upgraded to 3G or whether doing so constitutes a new contract.
       This was referred to what is called the Section 22 committee, referring to the clause in the contract with the then Communications Authority of Thailand as concession holder that shall decide whether 850 MHz 3G is an upgrade or a new network entirely. If it is deemed a new network, it would not be allowed under the existing agreement.
       Earlier this year, DTAC CEO Tore Johnsen expressed his frustration with CAT for allowing True to use what DTAC considered to be its 1G frequency for its 3G trials and also for CAT throwing the matter to the Section 22 committee,as AIS did not face the same degree of red tape from its concession holder,TOT.
       So what happened in the past six months that led to today's launch? Andreassen was not eager to talk about the legal and regulatory mess and chose his answer carefully.
       "We decided to discuss with CAT and go into cooperation that allowed us to launch 850, non-commercially.When it comes to the future, a commercial launch is still pending with the regulator and section 22 for both ourselves and TrueMove," he said.
       So is he happy with TrueMove's use of what is supposedly DTAC's frequency and pseudo commercial trials?"I'd rather talk about what we are doing today," he said.
       Later, he did say that the network was using only one of its two 5 MHz channels and that the other could be turned at any time, thereby implying that the 2.5 MHz frequency overlap with TrueMove was somehow resolved.
       Asked how much existing equipment can be used for the new networks legally and technically, the CSO explained that for the new trial project, around 80 percent of the Huawei supplied HSPA 850 equipment could be reused for a 2100 MHz 3G rollout if a license was granted.
       However, because of the legal uncertainty around the section 22 committee, none of the existing 1800 2G infrastructure was being used for the 850 MHz trial and hence for all intents and purposes, the 8503G trial is a totally separate network.
       So what of the future? When can we expect commercial 3G in Thailand? Andreassen said that the regulator (National Telecommunication Commission) still has not finalised the conditions of the 3G auction yet. DTAC would of course want to participate in the auction and was intending to bid for 10 MHz of frequency (two channels). However,there are still too many variables unanswered, such as access to 3G assets and roll-out requirements to put a value on the different licences.
       And what of 4G LTE (Long Term Evol-ution)? Many countries have now started their 4G LTE tests with many commercial roll-outs expected as soon as next year,Andreassen did say he hoped the NTC would issue technology neutral licences rather than a licence tied to 3G technology. By simply managing spectrum,a 4G upgrade would be relatively painless, but again, the regulator has not yet indicated how this will for the licences to be bid on.
       "We expect 2.1 3G licences to be issued this year, after which we can expect a commercial launch in six to nine months.
       "When it comes to 850 it is still very hard and in meetings and discussions.I really don't know," he said.

TT&T wins arbitration case against TOT

       TT&T won a third arbitration case over TOT Plc involving 2.3 billion baht concerning a revenue-sharing dispute.
       The victory was reported to the Stock Exchange of Thailand yesterday.
       But TOT plans to lodge an appeal with the Administrative Court over the arbitration court's ruling that it pay 2.3 billion to provincial fixed line operator TT&T over a revenue-sharing dispute seven years ago.
       TOT president Varut Suvakorn said TOT would protect its right to appeal,which means the case might take years before a final verdict is reached.
       TT&T won two earlier arbitration cases, the first involving 23 billion baht in compensation.
       Mr Varut said if a final ruling by the Administrative Court favoured TT&T,then TOT would comply. But he added he was sure TOT did not have the cash to pay such an amount.
       A shareholder of TT&T said the latest case filed by TT&T related to unfair revenue collection by TOT for long-distance call service. He added if TOT appeals the process might take as long as 10 years. But he was optimistic that although the case was far from over, its third consecutive victory should give TT&T more bargaining power in other disputes.TT&T filed four cases against TOT.
       In the first case TT&T filed against TOT, it demanded 23 billion baht in compensation after TOT allowed mobilephone operators to connect to its provincial network and collected 200 baht per month per number from each mobile phone operator.
       TT&T shares rose 4 satang to close at 71 satang in trade yesterday worth 52.9 million baht.

Serving the nation

       Your CAT board of directors gave an ultimatum to the underwhelming team in charge of the CDMA yuppiephone service available and widely ignored in 51 provinces, and currently along with Hutch ranked as No 4 in the nation: Give us 500,000 customers by the end of the year, or you will be revamped; board spokesman Krisada Kaweeyarn refused todefine "revamped," but it can't be good; the CAT board noted that the managers are adding about 5,000 users a month to the claimed 350,000 subscribers, when the three leading services are gaining that many subscribers in a typical day;meanwhile Hutch, available in 25 provinces in and around Bangkok, claims to have about 900,000 users.
       Your CAT Telecom announced it will try to push Hutchison Group out of the Bangkok-area CDMA service by New Year's Eve; the ever-rancorous Hutchison CAT Wireless Multimedia firm known as Hutch is 75 percent owned by the Hong Kong firm, but CAT has wanted it all for some time.
       No 1 yuppiephone network Advanced Info Service of Shingapore gave yet more gloomy news to its shareholders;managers revised revenue growth and planned expenditures downward again,given a horrible first quarter; Pornrat Janejarassakul, president for vice, said it had reduced total costs in a companywide belt-tightening, and still expected to make its target of 15 percent rise in free cash flow; but profit was down 33.7 percent year on year in the second quarter to 4.2 billion baht, and revenue fell 6.5 percent to 23.5 billion; it that was bad, Mr Pornrat saved the worst for last:"The 43 percent reduction in our international roaming revenue in the second quarter plunged to a record low." No 3 yuppiephone firm True Move of Thailand reported that revenue in the second quarter grew 2.4 percent year on year to 5.6 billion baht; interconnection charges were down, the company ordered in-house belttightening, and non-voice revenue grew by a healthy 7.3 percent.
       Also smiling was Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) governor Sombat Sarntijaree; electricity usage in August was up by two percent,the first rise in almost a year; Mr Sombat believes that is a sign the economy is coming back; the country burned up almost 8.3 billion kilowatt/hours in the first 20 days of August; that was higher than consumption last October, when electricity use began to fall each month,year on year; annual economic growth is still well below zero.
       Four seats are coming vacant on the National Telecommunications Commission, and the frantically busy Information and Communications Technology Minister Ranongruk Suwanchawee was working hard to fill them; until she does, the NTC will continue its hard work with just three members; three of the original Magnificent Seven drew short straws to see who would be first to end their terms, and a fourth seat was left vacant when board member Artorn Chantvimol resigned; at the moment,35 people have applied to serve the nation selflessly as NTC members.The National Telecommunications Commission managed to register 4,500 community radio stations in its scheme to control the airwaves; the NTC convinced almost all owners of stations that if they did not register, they would be deemed illegal; the NTC has decreed that the stations can continue to broadcast for a year without any sort of licence,although the commission also claims the right to close any station for broadcasting bad stuff; it is not known how many stations rejected the NTC control,although the voice of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) flatly refused to register.
       Asia Books , a success story in the 20th century, blamed a drop in tourists for flat sales so far this year; sales to foreigners have dropped 30 percent since January, with sales to Thais up by 10 percent, although managing director Phumate Manuphibul said prospects for the second half of the year look brighter; some wonder, however,whether Asia Books' reluctance to get into the e-book business has some effect.Electronics manufacturers reported their sales were rising again, and collectively they are using 80 percent of capacity as third-quarter performance built on the recovery in the second quarter; big firms like Cal-Comp Electronics (Thailand)and Western Digital saw surging profits in the second quarter, and are taking on staff again to keep up with demand,especially from overseas.
       Kodak (Thailand), which can hardly sell a camera any more, said it expects 2009 revenue to at least match last year's mark, by stressing printing of photos;the company is pushing Kodak Kiosk and Kodak Express Digital Online, and claims customers love the convenience;by next month, Kodak should have kiosks in post offices. Photos flourish on paper, and so does advertising;Thailand Post said actual mail delivery rose from 1.05 billion letters in 2005 to 1.3 billion last year; but the type of letter has changed;"The number of letters has increased over the past four years,but most of them are business letters,"said Wiboon Sereechaiporn, assistant president for vice; most letters these days are company mail and advertising,as people move to the computer for their correspondence.