Advanced Info Service (AIS), the country's largest mobile operator by subscribers, has launched a news portal, Play News, on its AIS Play entertainment platform, part of a move to support growth of local media and digital content industries.
The approach also aims to generate income for creators in the future.
The news content will be cut into bite-sized segments that are easy to understand, only five minutes long, AIS said.
Viewers can view the content in the form of video-on-demand on every channel of AIS Play, including the AIS Play app, the AIS Playbox, the website aisplay.ais.co.th, the Apple TV box and Samsung smart TV.
Chief executive Somchai Lertsutiwong said AIS is committed to creating the digital platform for Thais. Play News is the first phase of the planned digital platform for Thais serving the mass accessibility concept.
The portal offers a variety of news formats. Customers get regular updates every morning, noon and evening.
AIS yesterday also unveiled the first batch of Thai news personalities creating news content on Play News. They include Suthichai Yoon, Thapanee Eadsrichai, Bancha Chumchaivate, Chompunut Pattharakajee, Tongchai Cholsiripong, Phamaha Sompong talaputto and Lam Chikko-IT (Teerak Boonprecha).
Leading bloggers from various communities have also joined the platform. So has Ejan, the leading creator of investigative news features on social media.
These creators will be offering exclusive news content for Thai people to be updated on the daily news situation, under a concept that is different, shorter and more compact, Mr Somchai said.
AIS targets a win-win solution on the Play News model, which is different from other global platforms in terms of treatment of content creators.
Content creators can receive revenue from advertisements. "The content creators will get 80% of the advertising payment while AIS will get the rest, which is fair to the creators," Mr Somchai said.
AIS also provides a support team to help seek advertising for the news content.
"We want Play News to be a model of a content business which is sustainable for people who prefer professional generated content," Mr Somchai said.
AIS Play has 6 million active users. The news content is expected to bolster viewers on the platform, Mr Somchai said.
Some 85% of the company's total revenue is from mobile business and the rest from enterprise business and digital services, he said.
The proportion of mobile business revenue is likely to fall to 70% over the next five years, according to Mr Somchai.
AIS has also introduced virtual reality (VR) technology for news reporting. It's the first time in the world for co-creation between network service operators and news creators using VR technology, the company said.