$100 laptops' start to deliver

Bangkok Post (12 Nov 2007)

Low-cost notebook computers once considered for mass purchase and giveaways by the Thaksin Shinawatra government are rolling off the production lines in China.

The first of the XO laptops being built at a Quanta Computer facility in Changshu are destined for Uruguay, marking a milestone for the charity group founded by Nicholas Negroponte in Massachusetts two years ago.

"Against all the naysayers ... we have developed and now manufactured the world's most advanced and greenest laptop and one designed specifically to instill a passion for learning in children," Negroponte said.

A challenge for the organization has been that governments have not backed effusive words of support with willing flows of cash to buy laptops for children inside their borders.

Mr Negroponte at one time thought he had convinced Mr Thaksin to buy one million of the small, unique notebooks in order to give them away to Thai school children, the original aim of the initiative worldwide.

But Mr Thaksin and his ministry of information and communications technology never had any strong interest in acquiring the computers, which - while cheap - are very different from the standard Windows-type computers available in Thailand.

In August of 2006, Mr Thaksin claimed that "every elementary school child will receive a computer that the government will buy for them, free of charge, instead of books, because books will be found and can be read on computers." But he was clear that this plan covered locally assembled Windows-type machines, not the laptops from the world project.

The Sept 19, 2006, military coup put paid to the last chance that the Thai government would purchase the machines. Then-ICT minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom, who does not use the Internet, was unimpressed with the machines.

And Education Miniser Wijit Srisa-arn was dismissive from the time he entered the military-appointed government. "The project is not urgent and not in my education reform plan in the one-year timeframe, which focuses on improving education quality for teachers and students," he said a year ago.

Nectec chairman director Thaweesak Koanantakool helped a project to test the machines in the field in Thailand only two weeks after the military coup, but by then it was clear the project was dead in the water in Thailand.

Still, as recently as February, Mr Negroponte insisted Thailand would be among "the first batch" of five countries to shell out $200 million to buy and give away a million of the computers.

With the price of the "$100 laptops" now at $200 or more, there is no chance Thailand will participate in the programme.

The pay-by-phone challenge

Bangkok Post (10 November 2007)

Mobile operators won't put banks out of business but could grab a healthy share of payment marketsUMESH PANDEY

Regional and Thai banks already facing forced or voluntary consolidation to gain market share may soon be up against a new and far fiercer competitor in the payments segment: mobile phone operators.

''The telecommunication service providers could be the biggest threat to the banking industry in the near future and this is visible in some markets already,'' said David Rhodes, the senior partner and managing director for Financial service practices for the Boston Consulting Group based in London.

Mr Rhodes still believes that the death of bank branches, as predicted by some pundits in the past, will not come to pass. However, he says that the payments-generating business of the banking industry could be at risk from the growing trend toward using mobile handsets to pay for purchases at various points of sale. The most likely candidates in the near term are stores such as supermarkets, where trials are already under way in some markets.

CAT, Narai in broadband scheme

The Nation (10 November 2007)

CAT Telecom has joined with Narai Property in a pilot project to offer broadband Internet through the power lines at one of the property-developer's projects.

CAT president Phisal Jorphochau-dom said the board had already approved further negotiations with Narai Property on expanding the collaboration.

The state agency has already begun providing the service on a trial basis at Narai Property's Parkland Residence project in Bangkok, and the service will be launched commercially next month.

"We plan to offer it for Bt580 a month," he said.

In the next stage, CAT will approach major state electricity authorities to offer power-line-based broadband services jointly nationwide.

CAT is developing new income sources to counter declining revenue of its flagship international-call service.

During the first nine months of the year, CAT posted total revenue of Bt34.85 billion for a net profit of Bt7.058 billion. Excluding concession fees, revenue was Bt15.671 billion for a net profit of Bt461 million.

Revenue from international calls stood at Bt7.159 billion for the first nine months, down from Bt7.324 billion in the same period last year. Data-communications revenue rose to Bt6.055 billion, from Bt5.424 billion before, while its concession revenue jumped from Bt7.207 billion to Bt19.179 billion.

TOT has also struggled to cope with intense competition from private telecom operators and falling revenue. Last week TOT revealed it would spend Bt64 billion between next year and 2011 to install its new cutting-edge network and eliminate 2,000 staff positions for leaner operations.