Sms In TOT's New Fixed-line Phones

[george]

TOT's new fixed-line phone to offer short-messaging service

BANGKOK: TOT Corp Plc will next month launch a fixed-line phone with mobile-phone capabilities.

TOT, along with its partner Kanokkrit Co Ltd, will commercially launch the short-message-service (SMS) phone on January 14.

Like a mobile phone, the SMS phone has a keypad that allows users to send SMS in both Thai and English to cellular systems - and vice versa. It also features downloading ringtones and e-mail.

TOT's acting president Aran Permpiboon said that initially users could only send SMS to other SMS phone users in the TOT network and subscribers of cell-phone operator Thai Mobile, majority owned by TOT.

"We'll also give free SMS phones to new fixed-line subscribers of TOT for a period. We target 300,000 SMS phone users within one year," Aran added.

"We're currently holding talks with all telecom operators to allow users to send SMS to all mobile phones and all fixed-line phones which use a similar phone system," Kanokkrit managing director Nuttaphol Khiewborriboon added.

Aran said users could send SMS free of charge for three months after the launch.

Nuttaphol said users would be given the option of only buying an SMS box, which would be connected to their existing home telephones.

Kanokkrit is yet to finalise the cost of the new products and its features, although Nuttaphol expected them to be in line with the market.

In general, sending one SMS costs about Bt3.

Nuttaphol said that although most households already had mobile phones, they could use the SMS phone for text communications due to its larger keypad.

The SMS phone is also designed to provide the multimedia messaging service (MMS), allowing users to send and fetch multimedia content, Nuttaphol added.

Provincial fixed-line carrier TT&T Plc recently was the first telecom to pilot the SMS-phone service.

A TT&T source said that the service was becoming popular, with around 40,000 subscribers.

He said that telecom carriers with the service should collaborate to promote its growth.

Supachai Chearavanont, president of metropolitan fixed-line carrier TelecomAsia Corp Plc, said yesterday that the company would invest Bt10 million to launch a similar service within the next quarter.

He admitted the move was based on staying in touch with market trends after the company had previously focused on its high-speed Internet service.

TOT currently has some three million fixed-line subscribers.

--THE NATION 2003-12-10