AIS Offers New Post-paid Schemes

[george]

AIS offers new post-paid schemes

BANGKOK: Leading cell-phone operator Advanced Info Service (AIS) yesterday launched several new payment schemes covering six customer segments to boost revenue and defend against price attacks from rivals.

AIS executive vice president Kittsanan Ngamphathipong said the new post-paid tariffs were customised to fit with daily phone usage of the segments - tech geeks, businessmen, ladies, families, "fun people" and light users.

The new tariffs are bundled with low-cost wireless content services to boost data download, which should benefit both the company and its content partners.

Heavy phone users such as businessmen can subscribe for Bt1,500 monthly at a charge of Bt2 per calling minute from 8am to 7.50pm.

The rate then drops to Bt1.50 per minute for calls within AIS networks.

In the same package, heavy users can send a short message for Bt1 per time, down from Bt2, or send information on AIS's high-speed data transmission network, the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), for Bt0.05 per kilobyte, down from Bt0.10 per kilobyte.

"The market is becoming saturated, so we've to give added value to customers to stimulate them to use voice and data," Kittsanan said. AIS has over 13 million of the 20 million mobile-phone subscribers in Thailand. It estimates it will pick up three million new subscribers this year.

Kittsanan expected the average revenue per user of AIS post-paid phone services would increase after the package offering.

As of January, according to the company's website, post-paid phones made Bt1,179 average revenue per user (ARPU) monthly, down from Bt1,189 in December.

Kittsanan said that AIS had already doubled the capacity of its GPRS network to cater for the expected growth of content download under its new tariffs.AIS would spend Bt70 million on the marketing campaign for the new packages, he said.

--The Nation 2004-03-09