AIS to promote push-mail service among companies

Bangkok Post (7 November 2007)

Advanced Info Service (AIS) is riding the wave of increased demand for wireless data communications by expanding its wireless corporate push-mail service. The country's largest mobile-phone operator expects the new services to increase the number of its corporate customers to 19,000 next year, up from 12,000 expected by the end of this year.

AIS, in collaboration with Nokia, is offering AIS push mail on the latest Nokia E51 mobile handset, which is priced at 11,500 baht. The Intellisync wireless e-mail version offers enterprise users access to e-mail, phone calls and data simultaneously. The company charges 699 baht per month plus a free server licence.

Push mail, an open wireless corporate e-mail support platform, is a permanently connected service that ''pushes'' or sends e-mails as they arrive to GPRS-supported mobile phones, eliminating the need for users to log in to their inboxes or poll at regular intervals to check whether they have e-mails.

AIS is now marketing push-mail services on BlackBerry PDAs _ GPRS-enabled devices that combine wireless e-mail, mobile-phone and handheld-computer functions; Microsoft direct push; and Nokia Intellisync.

DTAC provides only Microsoft direct push while True Move offers just BlackBerry.

Yip Honmun, vice-president for enterprise markets and solutions of AIS, said the local mobile push-mail market was expected to jump by 50% in terms of the number of users and value in 2008, fuelled by increasing demand for wireless data communications.

Overall, the number of push-mail customers would increase up to 30,000 in a market worth of 300 million baht next year, up from 20,000 users for 200 million baht this year.

''We expect our market share to increase from 50% to 65% next year,'' Mr Honmun said.

He said AIS controlled a 80% share in the corporate market, thanks to a strong GPRS and Edge networks nationwide plus tailor-made services.