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KT Set Up High-Speed Internet in Thailand

KT, South Korea’s dominant fixed-line operator, has been accelerating its foray into Southeast Asian countries by tapping Thailand’s broadband Internet market.

The company on Thursday held a ceremony in Phuket launching 5,500 high-speed Internet lines, with president Lee Yong-kyung taking part in the event.

Among the lines, KT installed 5,000 lines in Bangkok and 500 lines in Phuket, the famous resort island frequented by foreign visitors.

This is KT’s second broadband network exports after the firm set up 4,000 high-speed Internet lines at three cities in northern Vietnam last September.

The telecom giant, which provides for more than half of Korea’s 11 million broadband subscribers, retains the advanced technological prowess in the state-of-the-art broadband network.

The Thai government launched a three-year plan, named ``Information and Communication Technology (ICT) City Project,’’ designed to boost broadband access in the nation under the initiative of its top telecom player TOT Corp.

KT took charge of the first phase of the project and established the broadband infrastructure in the two areas over the past four months.

Currently, roughly 3.5 million Thais out of the total 650 million population log onto the Internet periodically but only 50,000 have access to broadband services.

However, Thailand is evaluated to have great upside potential as its broadband market expanded more than 200 percent in 2003 from the previous year.

KT president Lee also acknowledged prospects for the Thai market look good and vowed to expand its reach in the Southeast Asian nation.

``The Thai government looks to further expand broadband networks in line with its ICT City Project, and we will also make efforts to cooperate with them on this,’’ Lee said.

In addition to Thailand, Lee added, KT would find new sources of revenue stream by making inroads into emerging markets like India and Russia.

``KT is now struggling domestically in revenues in the face of a saturated market and we need to find a next-generation growth engine,’’ Lee stressed.

Annual turnovers of the former state monopoly, which was fully privatized 2002, have increased at a rapid pace, becoming the nation’s first telecom outfit to top the 10-trillion-won milestone in sales at 10.3 trillion won.

Unlike the past, however, the company’s growth rate has slowed down to 0.5 percent over the past two years, spawning concerns that it is suffering a mid-life crisis.

--Korea Times 2004-07-15

Over 3,000 chickens destroyed in Sukhothai and Khon Kaen

SUKHOTHAI: -- Agricultural officials in this northern province of Sukhothai and the northeastern province of Khon Kaen yesterday destroyed over 3,000 chickens in an attempt to halt the latest outbreak of the avian flu virus.

In Sukhothai, nearly 3,000 chickens in Klong Yang, Pa Kum Ko, and Dong Khu Sub-districts were buried.

Farmers across the province also carried out mass slaughters of their poultry stock.

In Khon Kaen, 600 chickens of a farm in Ta Kra Serm Sub-district were culled after over 10% of the chickens in the farm have died, and were suspected to have contracted avian flu.

Amidst fears that the virus could spread further, Provincial Governors of the two provinces, Mr. Sukit Charoenrattanakun and Mr. Jeth Thanavat, yesterday convened meetings of provincial agriculture and health officials in their respective provinces to lay down measures to control the disease.

Under the proposals, any suspected cases of bird flu among poultry stock will mean the immediate destruction of all poultry within a five kilometre radius.

Public health officials in the provinces have also been asked to inform the public on how to protect themselves against the virus, and prevent its spread to other areas.

Provincial livestock officials met in Bangkok yesterday to co-ordinate a common approach to dealing with the fresh outbreak of bird flu.

These include the immediate destruction of all chickens in any farms where some 10% of the fowls have died suspiciously, the Director-General of the Department of Livestock Development, Yukol Limlamthong told TNA.

"The culling of fowls suspected of having contracted avian flu is to be conducted after local livestock officials have reported to provincial governors in their respective provinces," Mr. Yukol said.

Blood tests of poultry will also be conducted in every farm across the country from the end of July.

Any fowls found to have avian flu will immediately culled, Mr. Yukol added.

Studies are also to be conducted on a bird flu prevention vaccine.

The government will allocate a Bt60 million budget for all the operations over the next two years.

More than 10,000 chickens have been culled since the fresh outbreak of bird flu last week.

-- TNA 2004-07-15

Thailand confirms more bird flu outbreaks

BANGKOK: -- Thailand confirmed more outbreaks of the deadly bird flu among chickens on Thursday and now has recurrences of the deadly virus that swept through much of Asia earlier this year in nine of its 76 provinces.

"Bird flu is confirmed among chickens in Kamphaeng Phet province," said a statement posted on the Livestock Department's website: www.dld.go.th, referring to an area north of Bangkok.

Almost 40,000 fowl had been culled in the latest outbreaks, officials said.

Suspected cases of bird flu in chicken and ducks had beem reported in five districts of Bangkok and samples had been sent for testing, they said. The results would be known in a few days.

--Reuters 2004-07-15