CAT-CDMA Bids To Finalise Hutch Telecom Purchase

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CAT bids to finalise Hutch telecom purchase

BANGKOK: -- CAT Telecom has recently submitted to the Information and Communications Technology Ministry its plan to purchase Hutchison Telecom's business in Thailand.

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This includes Hutchison's Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) 2000 1-x cellular network in 25 provinces.

Once the ministry gives its approval, CAT will submit the plan to the National Economic and Social Development Board and then the Cabinet.

CAT executive chairman Krisda Kaveeyarn said the state agency hoped to be able to sign the deal with the Hong Kong telecom operator next month. The takeover will help boost CAT's CDMA business revenue by about Bt4 billion per year.

CAT and Hutchison Telecom have been in talks for some time on a possible deal. Currently their joint venture Hutchison-CAT Wireless Multimedia markets a cellular service on the CDMA network in 25 provinces under the Hutch brand. Hutchison-CAT leases the network from BFKT, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hutchison Telecom.

CAT also provides a separate cellular service on its own CDMA network in the other 51 provinces in the country. It wants to combine the two networks to provide a nationwide service.

A CAT source said that CAT and Hutchison Telecom recently reached an agreement that Hutchison Telecom could not offer its Thai telecom business to other parties during this time of CAT waiting for the Cabinet's approval of the plan.

FINAL TALKS ON PRICE

CAT has proposed to buy Hutchison Telecom business and CDMA network in 25 provinces with a budget ceiling of Bt7.5 billion. Once the Cabinet approves its plan, CAT will rush to talk to Hutchison Telecom to finalise the price.

The source added that both CAT and Hutchison Telecom were aware that it is of no use to delay the deal, given that the Hutchison-CAT marketing contract granted by CAT will expire in 2015.

Hutchison-CAT's post-paid mobile-phone service has high monthly average revenue per user of Bt700. Its pre-paid service averages just Bt100. The company brings in revenue of about Bt4.8 billion per year from about one million subscribers.

In a separate matter, CAT is set to submit to the Cabinet for consideration its plan to develop a fibre-to-the-x (FTTx) broadband-Internet service in greater Bangkok at a cost of around Bt6 billion. FTTx - in which x |represents a home, a building or any other premise - involves connecting a customer with a direct fibre-optic link via a service provider, in order to receive voice and data services.

CAT will also inform the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) that its overseas data-link services, such as its international Internet gateway service, have been affected by the NTC market liberalisation.

Telecom operators can now apply for NTC licences to connect directly with foreign network carriers to procure their data services or bandwidths without the requirement to connect via CAT's facilities anymore, unlike in the pre-NTC era. This has cost CAT Bt10 million a month.

-- The Nation 2010-01-15

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