Speaking to journalists at the launch of a new dongle package, RealMove COO Supakit Vuntanadit revealed a few numbers just ahead of its official Q4 2011 results.
TrueMove H ended 2011 with about half a million users, virtually all on post-paid, as its prepaid service was only launched on 27 December. In addition, around 400,000 TrueMove users also use the TrueMove H network, bringing the total number of 3G users under the True umbrella to just short of a million at the end of 2011.
At the end of 2011, 22% of TrueMove's revenue is from non-voice services, about the same as one other player and a bit higher than another at 20%. SMS is still growing, but in the low single digits.
TrueMove H currently provides 850-MHz 3G in 600 out of Thailand's 928 districts in every province. The plan is to increase it to 900 districts by the end of the year by which time the company has set a target of 4 million users.
TrueMove subsidiary BFKT builds the 850-MHz 3G network for state-owned CAT telecom which in turn sells it to RealMove under an MVNO agreement. Services are marketed by TrueMove under the TrueMove H brand.
Asked if the cost paid to CAT was indeed just 8% of revenues - as alleged by the competition who are paying 30% under their current concessions - Vuntanadit said that it was a very complex matter that could only be answered by the CFO. He said he only buys capacity from CAT and does not know the cost structure.
Asked if 2.1-GHz 3G was still needed given the favourable terms TrueMove H has with state-owned CAT Telecom, he replied that you can never have enough spectrum given the huge bandwidth demands from modern smartphone users. He added that the CEO has indicated that they would be participating in the auction.