Advanced Info Service (AIS) has announced sweeping changes to its business model and structure with an ambitious investment budget of 40 billion baht this year.
AIS chairman Vithit Leenutaphong announces the company's business direction for the year yesterday. The country's largest mobile operator has earmarked 40 billion baht to overhaul its operations.
The strategic move by the country's largest mobile operator is to accommodate what it believes will be the telecommunications industry's full transformation into a mobile information-communications network this year.
It is also to serve expected 200-400% growth in mobile data use this year.
But the mobile voice market is expected to continue to decline, contracting by 5% this year.
"To serve this new digital age, this year we are transforming ourselves from 'Chang' [which means elephant in Thai] to 'Change', with the 'e' symbolising evolution, extraordinary, entertainment, excitement and entrepreneur," chairman Vithit Leenutaphong said yesterday.
He identified three pillars of its core business that needed to be changed — wireless, fixed-based broadband and digital services.
AIS plans to spend 40 billion baht this year including 30 billion to expand its third-generation network by increasing its total 3G base stations to 29,000, covering 97% of the population.
The remaining 10 billion baht will be used to build fixed broadband infrastructure and expand digital services, Mr Vithit said.
AIS has so far invested 240 billion baht in its telecom networks since its inception including 80 billion on 3G network construction last year, Mr Vithit said.
Chief executive Somchai Lertsuttiwong said the mobile industry was projected to grow by 15% to 233 billion baht this year from 224 billion last year.
The local wireless device market including smartphones is expected to increase by 10% to 127 billion baht.
Sales of smart devices are expected to reach 20 million units, half of them smartphones.
The fixed broadband market will grow by 3-4% to 62 billion baht, Mr Somchai said.
AIS has 44 million subscribers making 90 million voice calls a day and connecting to the internet 200 million times each day.
Citing figures from the International Telecommunication Union, Mr Somchai said 40% of the world's population used the internet last year.
They did so via 10 billion internet-connected devices.
Mr Somchai said AIS was embarking on the first phase of its fixed-broadband network expansion.
So far, the company has laid 120,000 kilometres of fibre-optic cable nationwide with the capacity to serve 300,000 users.
"We expect to close the last mile between our fibre-optic stations and 10 million homes over the next five years," Mr Somchai said.
AIS shares (ADVANC) closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 251 baht, unchanged, in heavy trade worth 1.43 billion baht.