Thailand’s state enterprise super board chaired by junta leader Prayuth Chanocha has ordered the two state telcos CAT Telecom and TOT Corporation to focus on providing wholesale services and cease cloud and hosting services to cut costs.
The two were ordered to focus on fixed lines, broadband Internet, international Internet gateway, international cables, international phone calls and basic infrastructure.
The two will have to report back within a month whether the telecommunications infrastructure and even their mobile businesses are viable or not.
Meanwhile, vultures are already circling TOT looking at its 15-MHz slice of 2.1-GHz spectrum for 4G LTE services.
Chief of these is AIS-affiliated LTE Mobile which is understood to have offered TOT a MVNE type deal to take on its crumbling 3G network, roll out 4G and provide services back to TOT.
A source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Mobile LTE would offer TOT 25% shares in the company (registered capital of $3.03 million or 100 million baht) and a further $76 million (2.5 billion baht) per annum.
“It is not an MVNO. It is a takeover bid [of TOT] by Mobile LTE.
“The biggest sign of this being a cover-up deal to gain control of TOT is that they mention they aim for 12-15 million subscribers – that is not an MVNO, that is a mobile network operator,” the source said.
TOT’s 3G network, the first to launch commercially in Thailand in December 2009, has not been maintained and cell sites are failing without being fixed.
The fact that TOT is hemorrhaging money makes this quick fix - 25% shares, 2.5 billion a year and 4G roll-out paid for - very enticing and it is unlikely that any new entrant without affiliations to incumbents can top or even match this offer.
The deal is structured not unlike CAT-True’s controversial deal. On paper, CAT claims to be the MNO but outsourced all of its 850-MHz 3G network except bricks and mortar to True subsidiary BFKT. CAT then gives its MVNO, True subsidiary RealMove, 80% of capacity with the rest going to other MVNOs and the supposed MNO, CAT My3G. Decisions on new cell site rollout and equipment are all made by True and not CAT.
AIS PR said only that no decision had been made yet for the 4G company structure.
A similar deal put forward by Samart Communications, but only for 10 MHz of TOT’s 15 was rejected last year by the office of the attorney general as it would have left TOT with only 5 MHz of its own bandwidth going forward.
While the junta has indicated that it is eager for 4G allocation to go forward, the terms and conditions are in a state of flux. The national council for peace and order has written to the telecoms regulator asking if 1800 and 900 MHz spectrum can simply be allocated to those committed to good causes without auction while the frequency allocation law itself is the subject of intense debate in the legislative council. Some of the more extreme views being entertained including disbanding the regulator and giving regulatory power back to a combined CAT/TOT.