TOT Plc earmarked 25 billion baht for two fibre-optic networks in its latest move to become a network service provider and create new revenue streams.
The move is part of TOT's strategy to stay afloat after its concession revenue vanishes at year-end.
Chief executive Yongyuth Wattanasin said up to 20 billion baht will be spent on installing 3 million ports for a nationwide fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network.
FTTH is a broadband network architecture using optical fibres to replace all or part of the usual metal local loop used for last-mile telecommunications, thereby increasing the speeds.
The remaining 5 billion baht will be used to expand its submarine cable facilities in Satun and Songkhla provinces.
The plan will be submitted to TOT's board on July 24 for approval before being passed on to the Information and Communication Technology Ministry and the National Economic and Social Development Board. It will then be submitted for cabinet endorsement.
"We expect a green light from the cabinet this year, with project spending to start in 2014," said Mr Yongyuth.
He said under the plan, TOT's FTTH network construction would be complete within five years.
The network would be aimed at accommodating growing bandwidth use fuelled by third- and fourth-generation mobile broadband service.
Mr Yongyuth said fibre-optic cables running on a wired broadband network will play a more important role in telecommunications in the near future thanks to their higher bandwidth capacity and greater reliability.
CTH Plc last year signed an agreement with TOT to rent the state enterprise's fibre-optic network as its core infrastructure to serve its 345 members operating cable TV nationwide.
Regarding the 5 billion-baht submarine cable project, Mr Yongyuth said TOT plans to expand the network in Satun via a submarine branching unit (SBU) platform for linkage to the rest of Asean, the Middle East and Western Europe.
The submarine cable expansion in Songkhla will be aimed at connecting with cable system network operators in Singapore and Japan.
A submarine line is a cable laid along the seabed between land-based stations to carry telecommunications signals across long stretches of ocean.
Mr Yongyuth said submarine cables originally were simply a point-to-point connection, but with the development of SBUs more than one destination can be served by a single cable system.