(Bangkok Post via NewsEdge) Thailand's AIS said it is ready to defend itself before the National Telecommunications Commission if rival True Move presses ahead with its complaint that AIS is unfairly undercutting prices.
An AIS senior executive said the company's latest marketing campaign was good for just one month and targeted only new customers.
Under the campaign, available until October 31, new prepaid subscribers are charged 1 baht ($0.026) per call from 12 am to 2 pm and 1 baht per minute at other time until November 30.
Third-ranked True Move and second-ranked DTAC have threatened to petition the market regulator, seeking action against the latest price-cutting strategy by the country's largest mobile-phone operator.
'Our promotion does not apply to existing subscribers, unlike True's offerings, which give bundled services, mobile- and fixed-line phone, broadband Internet, and pay-TV services, to all customers,' the AIS executive said.
'If True said AIS was in breach of competition rules and international market dominance standard, it should also be violating competition codes. Its promotion campaigns have adversely affected the pocket of its license provider CAT Telecom.'
CAT Telecom has cried foul over True's bundled marketing campaigns which resulted in a sharp drop in its revenue. The state agency has set up a financial team to study whether the group's bundled offerings will have a strong impact on its future earnings.
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