The Thai Information and Communications Technology minister Chuti Krairiksh has told state-owned telcos CAT and TOT to put on hold their network investment plans, reported local newspaper The Nation.
The minister is looking to have first a full mapping…
The Thai Information and Communications Technology minister Chuti Krairiksh has told state-owned telcos CAT and TOT to put on hold their network investment plans, reported local newspaper The Nation.
The minister is looking to have first a full mapping of locations for the network rollout, as part of the national broadband policy. The move is aimed at promoting network infrastructure sharing and eliminating redundant investment among private and state-owned companies, he was quoted as saying.
CAT is reportedly planning to spend Bt6bn (US$198m) on a broadband service using a fibre-optic network, while TOT is looking to invest Bt13bn (US$423m) on the rollout of the Next Generation Network (NGN).
Back in September, the ICT Ministry had already ordered CAT to pay less – Bt4bn (US$135m) instead of Bt7.2bn (US$240m) – for Hutchison CAT Wireless Multimedia (HCWM).
HCWM is a CDMA joint venture between Hong Kong-based telecom group Hutchinson Telecommunications International (75%) and CAT (25%).
Last April, the government approved CAT Telecom’s plan to take complete ownership of HCWM, which covers 25 provinces, including the Bangkok area.
At the time of the approval, CAT president Jirayuth Roongsrithong was quoted saying that the deal would enable CAT to generate Bt4bn in revenues in the first year of operations and add 1.5 million subscribers to its name.
But Krairiksh reportedly argued that CAT should save money for other projects as part of the government’s plan to promote CAT and TOT as the national network providers.
The potential deal is now likely to fall though as Hutch recently informed CAT that it would not sell the company for the price asked, according to news website TelecomPaper citing The Nation.
However, Thai mobile operators True Move and Advanced Info Service (AIS) are both considering buying HCWM, according to media reports. A deal between True and HCWM could reach between US$120m and US$150m and would reportedly be concluded in November.
