(Bangkok Post via NewsEdge) CAT Telecom plans to award Hutchison a contract that will allow it to solely market CDMA mobile-phone services under the Hutch brand countrywide.
Hutchison-CAT Wireless Multimedia, the 75-25 joint venture of Hong Kong-based Hutchison and CAT Telecom, currently markets the Hutch service in 25 central provinces including Bangkok.
Chinese equipment supplier Huawei Technologies is now expanding CAT's CDMA network to cover the other 51 provinces under a contract worth 7.2 billion baht ($188 million). It is expected to be ready for commercial service early next year.
A CAT executive said the state telecom enterprise lacked the marketing expertise to handle the Hutch service and had, therefore, renegotiated the contract.
However, the recent resignation of several members of the CAT board could delay the deal's approval.
The executive said the contract would be a breakthrough for CAT and Hutchison, which had been at loggerheads over the lease for the existing network.
Currently, Hutchison-CAT leases the 25-province network from BFKT, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hutchison.
The executive said Hutchison had offered to sell the network to CAT for 30 billion baht ($786 million), which was the cost of its investment.
When negotiations failed, the board of CAT Telecom ordered CAT-Hutchison to stop paying its leasing fees to BFKT.
c Bangkok Post
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