DTAC aiming for top

The Nation (12 December 2007)

New subsidiary applies for NTC licence

Wide Broadband, a new subsidiary of Total Access Communication (DTAC), applied for a licence from the national telecom regulator last week to offer broadband-Internet access.

The move is part of DTAC's plans to make a foray into the wireless- and wireline-broadband domain, with the goal of taking the lead in the long term.

Wide Broadband managing director Sunti Medhavikul yesterday said the company applied for a type-3 licence, which is for applicants offering telecom services via its own large network.

He said Wide Broadband also needed to have a local partner with broadband-Internet expertise to help it develop the business.

He declined to specify the budget for the broadband-network roll-out but did say service coverage would be nationwide. Wide Broadband expects to take between six and 12 months for network design and roll-out.

Wide Broadband is capitalised at Bt1 million and will increase capital later for the network roll-out.

Sunti said the broadband-Internet market still had ample room for growth, given that there were only about a million broadband-Internet users out of a total Thai population of 65 million. The country now has about 10 million combined narrowband- and broadband-Internet subscribers.

True now commands the broadband-Internet market with nearly 600,000 subscribers, followed by TOT with 200,000.

Sunti said Wide Broadband had also recently applied for a licence from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to test Wi-Max wireless broadband-access technology.
Last month, DTAC chief executive Sigve Brekke urged the NTC to join with all private telecom operators to promote third-generation (3G) wireless broadband technology on a trial basis.

While the NTC has mentioned many times it was planning to finish drafting 3G frequency licensing terms this year, it is uncertain whether it can award the new spectrum licences as planned.

The new Constitution calls for a new regulator, the National Broad-casting and Telecommunications Commission, but the process to set it up will take time.

The second-largest cellular operator, DTAC, has about 16 million mobile-phone subscribers.