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Baht/$ 33.51/56
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14,350
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KOMSAN TORTERMVASANA
CAT Telecom has overtaken its state sibling TOT in terms of financial strength, cash flow and operational flexibility, which could have implications for the future development of the country's telecommunications industry. The immediate cause of TOT's misfortunes was the decision by two private operators under CAT concessions _ DTAC and True Move _ to stop paying access charges for the use of the TOT network in November 2006. They said the new interconnection-fee regime devised by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) should be he standard for the industry instead of concession-based payments.
CAT has also benefited from a degree of management foresight that TOT appears to lack. CAT realised some time ago that international voice calling, over which it had a monopoly for decades, was a sunset industry in the age of Skype. It decided that its future was in broadband and other services that it was well positioned to offer.
CAT has even offered to help its private concessionaires and work with them to develop the business, while TOT engages in endless lawsuits with its erstwhile partners to protect the 14 billion baht a year in revenue-sharing payments it believes are its birthright.
The return to the board of former CAT chairman Sathit Limpongpan this year has also given hope to employees that he would continue to build on CAT's newfound strengths. He has promised to announce major changes in CAT before it celebrates its anniversary on Aug 14.
Mr Sathit has reason to boast, citing not only increased revenues for CAT from DTAC and True Move, but also a debt-free organisation with only 6,000 staff against TOT's 19,000.
CAT also has rich resources in the 800 Megahertz spectrum, particularly after negotiations with DTAC to share the use of some unused frequencies from the second-ranked mobile operator.
Mr Sathit has stressed the need to restructure CAT so that each business unit would have a clearer target and easy assessment of performance, with no overlaps. Each unit would have a head with complete authority, like a chief operating officer.
CAT Telecom also will be rebranded. It will become simply CAT and engage in basically the same businesses as TOT, but will do them better in most cases. The new CAT will offer communications, be it voice, video, or data, the same as private operators that are increasingly moving to convergence.
Rebranding will involve external and internal change. Internal change mens that CAT staff must feel they have changed together with their organisation. ''We must be ready to face whatever the organisation faces, dead or alive,'' he said.
Mobile service will be CAT's core business. It will move toward two technologies: CDMA 2000 1x EV-DO, which Huawei of China has installed in 51 provinces and which CAT will market; and the Hutch service in 25 central provinces, including Bangkok. CAT also intends to provide GSM service via its business allies such as DTAC on the WCDMA platform.
TOT also is gearing up for big changes _ as it must. Chairman Teravuti Boonyasopon says survival is the goal in the face of endless disputes with private operators over access charge payments.
He stressed the need for TOT to change from behaving like a regulator as in the past to being an operator so as to enable it to compete. While the organisation is expected to struggle in the short term, Mr Teravuti believes staff dedication and morale are high and that TOT will emerge as a stronger player.
He outlined seven important tasks: human resources development and unity, technology development to international levels, upgrading service quality to satisfy customers, organisational systems to achieve economic value management, co-operation with other state agencies, distribution of wealth and prosperity to the region, and seeking business allies.
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