TOT Plc has shortlisted three private telecoms as prospective partners to help the state enterprise turn around its ailing fortunes.
Joint ventures between TOT and the private operators are expected to be settled by March, said a source familiar with the matter.
The three potential partners are all TOT concessionaires: mobile leader Advanced Info Service (AIS), Loxley Plc and Mobile LTE.
Three companies that did not make the shortlist were True Corporation, Total Access Communication (DTAC) and Samart Corporation.
“Seeking a private partnership will mark a bold step towards recovering and restoring our management and business operations,” the source said.
TOT last month opened the door for private telecom companies to propose partnership deals. All business areas are welcome for partnership.
Although some international telecom firms have also expressed an interest in a partnership, no progress has been made, the source said.
TOT’s financial advisers are on the verge of evaluating potential partnerships and the proposals submitted by the candidates.
“We expect the new partners to help us generate revenue of at least 4-5 billion baht a month,” the source said, adding that having private partners would speed up the development of TOT as it seeks to become a telecom network service provider.
Private partnerships could also serve the development of the digital economy.
Under the potential collaboration plan, TOT could rent out its existing unused 10 megahertz (out of 15 MHz of bandwidth on the 2100-MHz spectrum) to selected partners who would provide 4G wireless broadband service under a network rental agreement.
The source said AIS had proposed to jointly manage TOT’s telecom towers through a joint venture agreement.
TOT removed True and Samart from the shortlist because of their unrealistic proposals and non-viable options.
True had asked TOT to sell its telecom network to True’s infrastructure fund in exchange for a partnership agreement, a proposal that could have led to revenue uncertainty for TOT in the long run.
Samart Corporation had proposed that it become the sole company operating 3G mobile services for the state telecom enterprise, instead of sharing duties as one of five companies providing services under the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) model.
An MVNO is a company that provides service but does not have its own network.