(Bangkok Post via NewsEdge) The operator of Hutch mobile phone services in Thailand is focusing on the SME market to help boost its subscriber base past one million by the end of this year.
At the end of 2005, Hutchison CAT Wireless Multimedia, a joint venture of Hong Kong-based Hutchison and CAT Telecom, had 732,000 subscribers compared with 615,000 the year before. The total mobile market is estimated at 32.4 million users.
Despite slowing economic growth and intense competition in the local mobile phone market, Hutch expects to meet this year's 30% sales growth target, according to Kulya Sirinavin, VP for postpaid and prepaid marketing.
Kulya said Hutch would record a profitable first half with positive EBITDA in the first five months of this year.
Hutchison saw a positive EBITDA in the last quarter of 2005 for the first time, three years after it launched operations in 2003.
Hutch posted 4.85 billion baht ($126 million) in revenue in 2005.
'We are moving to expand continuously in the high-revenue SME segment to boost our postpaid customer base, which now accounts for 50% of our total subscribers,' Kulya said.
Hutch's SME customers accounted for 20% of its total client base and the firm is introducing three new competitive tariff plans to attract more SMEs, including a free CDMA mobile handset for customers who subscribe to least three Hutch postpaid numbers.
c 2006 Bangkok Post
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