By Thai PBS World’s Business Desk 

 

The proposed merger of telecom giants True Corporation Plc and Total Access Telecommunication Plc (Dtac) has drawn great public interest and sparked a debate on its impact on consumer welfare.

 

The onus is once again on regulators to ensure fair competition in the telecom service market. Norway’s Telenor, the parent company of Dtac which owns Dtac TriNet, and Charoen Pokphand (CP) Holding, the parent company of True Corp that owns TrueMove H, announced on November 22 a mega-merger plan. True and Dtac will enter into an equal partnership through a share-swap deal to form a new technology company.

 

TrueMove H and Dtac TriNet are the second and third largest mobile-phone service providers, behind market leader AIS.

 

“As the number of service providers will shrink to only two, it would definitely adversely impact consumer choices,” said Saree Aongsomwang, secretary-general of the Thailand Consumers Council, expressing concern over the proposed merger.

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/will-consumers-pay-the-price-for-true-dtac-mega-merger/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2021-11-25

 

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Competition ??   with only 2 Giant providers ,

I have a nice oceanfront real estate piece to sell you for a very good price , location :  ......

Samut Prakarn by the SEA ......  

I am waiting for Tesla's " Pi Phone "....

( pronounced PIE phone ) connected to STARLINK satellites , accessible most of the world ,

no other service provider involved ,

no boundaries limitation , just hope it is "affordable" .....

Edited November 25, 20214 yr by kg1947
spacing

5 hours ago, webfact said:

“As the number of service providers will shrink to only two, it would definitely adversely impact consumer choices,” said Saree Aongsomwang, secretary-general of the Thailand Consumers Council, expressing concern over the proposed merger

It will go two ways:

either a battle royal for customers which should see promotions galore or reduced prices... 

Or:

they'll both fix prices.

Are bears Catholic? Does the Pope ßhit in the woods?

They own nearly everything else so why not? 

Perhaps Thailand should soon consider renaming itself into CP-Land. It's snappy, easy to remember, and it perfectly alludes to the fact that Charoen Phokpand is gradually taking over pretty much every business sector in the country.

double post removed

Edited November 25, 20214 yr by Misterwhisper

Customers always pay the price.

No, there is still competition  out there, no cartel yet.

Thailand is rather famous for considering the consumer dead last, in every decision they make. Near monopolies are never a good thing. Just look at True Visions. Likely one of the lowest quality selections of satellite TV, available anywhere in the civilized world. Bare bones stuff. 

was it not CP (along with some others)who fronted the money for Prayut's party....to protect his business interests ...? it is now looking like a deliberate attempt to dethrone AIS (Thaksin's old company) .2 operators is not in the public interest and this shouldn't get past the monopolies commission.i think True must be so heavily leveraged that they are having a hard time making the money back to service loans.Better to borrow some more create a monopoly and then control prices-seems to be standard practice throughout Thailand..CP need to focus on better products not larger ones, and start reducing all their plastic that accompanies their meat products..

Well, at least      the broadcasts  put out at present, with numerous breakdowns,  changed programmes,   and the 8pm  follies  of a certain family on one channel in particular  couldnt get much worse,,,,or can they??