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Thailand: TT&T Plc to invest in WiMax phone service nationwide(Thai Press Reports Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)Section: Corporate News - TT&T Plc has earmarked investment of up to six billion baht in the WiMax phone service nationwide this year as the planned third-generation (3G) service is likely to face further regulatory delays, the Bangkok Post reports. But the provincial fixed-line telephone provider said it was ready to invest in its planned 50-billion-baht 3G cellular project nationwide, with Japan's NTT DoCoMo as the prospective strategic partner, once the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) issues 3G licences and finalises licensing fees. WiMax is a more powerful version of a Wi-Fi high-speed wireless network that can provide wireless Internet access over wider geographic locations such as a city. Prasitchai Kritsanayunyong, senior vice-president for corporate finance, said TT&T planned to spend six billion baht on a WiMax network once it received a type-3 fixed-line licence from the NTC, expected by the end of this month. Construction works for the infrastructure will be completed over the next six months and commercial services will begin by the end of this year. He said TT&T expected to use two billion baht of its operating revenue to finance the WiMax expansion, with the remaining four billion coming from leasing plans with the project's equipment suppliers. Mr Prasitchai also said further discussions with prospective partners to help manage and finance the 3G project would be settled immediately if the NTC concluded the 3G licensing framework. TT&T's plan is to sell up to 25% of the project to a new partner. Under the 3G scheme, TT&T planned to invest 50 billion baht in installing new 3G base stations designed to accommodate 1.5-2 million users in Bangkok. TT&T on May 16announced a first-quarter net profit of 318 million baht, compared with losses of 100 million baht in the same period last year and of 350 million baht in the previous quarter. First-quarter revenue was 1.671 billion baht, down by 3% year-on-year from 1.725 billion, and by 5% quarter-on-quarter from 1.759 billion. Mr Prasitchai attributed the profit to a 600-million-baht foreign-exchange gain. Excluding this item, the first-quarter operating profit was 33 million baht, down from 174 million baht year-on-year, but up from a loss of 47 million baht in the previous quarter. Of the total revenue, 49% came from the fixed-line business, 13% from public-phone operation, 12% from Internet broadband service and the rest from equipment and Internet protocol phone (IP phone) businesses. The contribution of fixed-line services in total revenue has significantly declined, from 80% or six billion baht in 2000 to less than 50% or three billion baht last year, thanks to heavy competition with mobile-phone operators. TT&T posted a loss of 1.7 billion baht on revenue of 6.7 billion last year. It has debts of US$270 million and accumulated losses of 16 billion baht. "We projected revenue of 7.3 billion baht this year, including an expected new revenue stream of 500 million baht as a result of the expansion of our broadband network to serve 300,000 subscribers, a project to be available in the fourth quarter of this year," Mr Prasitchai said. But, he said TT&T was likely to continue facing losses this year, citing the two-billion-baht broadband expansion service and the price war with mobile operators. "We expect to break even by 2008 when our broadband customer base tops 300,000," he said. |