TOT Names 5 Companies To Provide 3G Service

[george]

TOT names 5 companies to provide 3G service

BANGKOK: -- TOT has selected five companies to provide third-generation wireless broadband via its network in the greater Bangkok area on a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) basis.

Senior executive vice president Wichien Naksrinual said the state agency had leased the network on a wholesale basis to 365 Communication, Loxley, Samart, IEC and M Consultant to provide the service but declined to disclose for how much.

An MVNO is a company without its own network and which thus must lease network and airtime from someone else.

Wichien said TOT had signed non-disclosure agreements with them.

The state agency has assigned each of them 100,000 mobile-phone numbers to market the service in a bid to acquire 500,000 subscribers within six months.

TOT will debut 3G service on December 3, and 365 Communications and Samart will be the first to launch the service that day.

Wichien said M Consultant, whose chairman is telecom veteran Cherdsak Kookietnan, would team up with handset distributor Jay Mart to market the service. Cherdsak is a former president of Shin Corp.

The state agency has spent Bt1.7 billion to upgrade the network in the greater Bangkok area to 3G technology, including 548 base stations.

Wichien said TOT had targeted breaking even within seven years and high average monthly revenue per user of Bt400 to Bt500. Initially, the network will offer a connection speed of 7.2 megabits per second.

TOT will test-launch 3G service at Commart Comtech Thailand 2009, which runs from today until Sunday at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre in Bangkok.

The state agency plans to roll out a nationwide 3G network, with 3,800 base stations and costing Bt23 billion.

-- The Nation 2009-11-05

[animatic]

So much for the DTAC phone number eh?

Who owns whom and what alliances are there pre-existing with these corporate entities?

[skippybangkok]

Will get very interesting, and hope the MVNO's have real good contracts. Bit like having a noose around ur neck, and some one else has the hand on the trap door lever ( having you core competency in someone elses hand)

Maybe different reasons, but Virgin Mobile in Singapore went belly up after a few years - was also a MVNO.

Edited November 5, 2009 by skippybangkok

[nullx8]

thats kind of funny ... they sell "rights" for something they not even hold ..

the only company legally holding 3G Frequencies is DTAC (they also running a test network since quite a while) but only for limited group of users.

having the Frequencys does not mean having licenses .... its all just about printing $$$