Tuesday, 03 May 2022
Among the complex, retort, hidden, and lengthy stories, the level of ‘epic’ in Thai society may not be beyond fiction. “Thai telecommunication” about ‘frequency spectrum’ from the 1G to 5G era can be placed in the forefront of the ‘epic’ of various tastes and destinies, as close as the political novel. ‘Democracy’ because it is full of colorful characters. Outsmart game tricks and tales that turn twisted, twisted, unbelievable, astounding, bitter, humiliated, and the competitive exclusion of industry leaders, with the characters of 3 kingdoms consisting of AIS, which has the Singha Group, a major shareholder from Singapore. To be a leader in the regional telecommunication market with market share being the 1st in every country that competes Including Thailand, where AIS has maintained its No. 1 market share for over 28 years, while the second faction is DTAC, whose main shareholder is a state enterprise named Telenor from Norway. and lastly, True Group, which is the last Thai entrepreneur entering the industry. and is often reprimanded in the early days of mobile phones as Can it really compete with Singapore and Norway?
To this day, more than 25 years, from the political economy of the 2G concession era to the 3G and 4G auctions recorded as global case studies. Continue with the latest wave auction battleground that is currently smoldering. Until the picture of the future in the 5G era that will destroy the old world to create a new world ‘epic’ about Thai frequencies It continues with an unpredictable story. and the changing rhythm that catches the eye
The first era, AIS and the monopoly of the 2G market
Since mobile phones come into Thailand In the past, it was a 1G wave, a mobile phone was a gigantic device. It was very expensive to stick in the car. After that, we came to know GSM or 2G phones that were easier to carry. 2G was born in Thailand. Because the service is open by private through the wave allocation system known as ‘concession’, which is the state granting a monopoly right to conduct business with any private sector, whereby the private sector repays a portion of its revenue back to the state
In the early days, only AIS and DTAC were major operators in this industry. AIS was initially registered as Advanced Info Service Company Limited on April 24, 1986. It was opened for the first time in October 1990 by AIS contracting with the Telephone Organization of Thailand. To operate a 900 MHz mobile phone service project for a period of 20 years to 2010 and launch a digital GSM mobile phone service in 1994, while the first major competitors is Total Access Communication Public Company Limited, a company registered as a limited company in August 1989 by the Bencharongkul Group. to operate a mobile phone service business by starting to provide mobile phone services in the 800 MHz and 1800 MHz frequency under a joint venture agreement in the form of “Build-Transfer-Operate” from CAT Telecom Public Company Limited (formerly the Communications Authority of Thailand)
Interview with Dr. Somkiat Tangkitvanich President of Thailand Development Research Institute or TDRI, titled “Epic Thai Spectrum” in 2018, clearly stated that AIS had the most advantage because it was the first to come in since 2G phones and was trying to block people from Other players can enter. It was written in the concession contract with the Telephone Organization or TOT at that time (TOT Public Company Limited or TOT at present) that it was a service that had to be the only monopoly. At that time, AIS used a method that could be called to take advantage of consumers, such as imei lock (IMEI), which made Thai people unable to bring mobile phones from abroad to use in Thailand at all. People these days probably don’t realize it. because nowadays, even if we carry the device from where Just insert the SIM and you can use it. But at that time he forbade him to do so. Because he has monopoly power, even if he has a SIM, but if he checks the imei number and finds that it’s not the one bought from him, he can’t make calls, so the operator’s profit doesn’t come from service only. but also from forcing to sell the phone at an expensive price
In the next era, DTAC came to break the monopoly of AIS from the fact that the Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT) at that time (CAT Telecommunication Public Company Limited (CAT) or CAT at present) wanted to make some TOT concessions. then gave a concession to DTAC, whose conditions for paying revenue to the state were not as good as AIS, but received more spectrum
If you look back and look at that era, AIS has a former director of the Telephony Organization, who is a contracting party as a director of the company. As for the board of DTAC, there is a former director general of the Post and Telegraph Department, which was the frequency allocation unit at that time AIS and DTAC. operates business in the manner of two monopolies continually
The second generation, Tom Yum Goong, AIS survived, but DTAC fell, the origin of True.
The phone calls from the homes of the top executives’ ‘banks’ rang around 5am on July 2, 1997. Of course, it’s not uncommon for someone to ‘wake up’ their calls from their reverie. During this early morning The caller was a high-ranking officer of the Bank of Thailand. The more reiterated that The matter to be discussed must certainly not be commonplace. a few hours later The top executives of financial institutions gathered at the ‘raft house’, a wooden building jutting out into the Chao Phraya River. which is located in the innermost part of the National Bank That morning, a senior executive of the Bank of Thailand told the attendees that After this, the Bank of Thailand (BOT) will use a foreign exchange policy. ‘Floating the currency’
In that era, there were two monopoly in the telecommunication market, AIS and TAC, only TAC was unable to adjust and didn’t know about it before. By the 1997 economic crisis, Tac was short of money, so it took a lot of spectrum to sell, making AIS a monopoly and the only leader in the market. and gained almost all market share however In the rhythm of Tac’s death in that era Take the spectrum that has a lot to sell, resulting in a new operator, which is TRUE today. The entry of TRUE causes growth and market share competition. Consumers benefit more from competition, resulting in True being a camp that starts with customers zero, gradually stepping up to compete.
from the Tom Yum Kung crisis at that time In November 1996, TAC requested to extend the contract with CAT to 2018. After the 1997 economic crisis, it started selling some shares to Telenor. and changed the trade name from “tac” to “dtac” in March 2001, the Bencharongkul family Major shareholder in Ucom, TAC’s parent company Sold shares to Telenor in late 2005, later Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra sold shares from AIS. making two telecom operators It was a state enterprise from abroad in that era, AIS was held by Singapore. while dtac is a shareholder from Norway
3rd era, super-state strategy Drag the small players, run out of concessions, get out of business.
In the 3rd era after the birth of True and launching a mobile phone service “True Move”, which has to exert a lot of effort over the past 8 years to compete with AIS and DTAC, 2 giants in the mobile phone business But there seems to be no sign of winning. Due to the limited waves and the waves are nearing their expiration date. making it difficult to continue investing Because the service period is not enough to pay back the capital. In that era, True Move faced not only strong-capital competitors from Singapore and Norway, but also in terms of marketing strategies, both AIS and DTAC invested. to the fullest It also has an advantage in terms of contracts with states that are longer. with dtac remaining 8 years, AIS 5 years, but True Move only 3 years left, so if still using 2G, both AIS and dtac are still leaders in the market. while True will expire first. to leave business causing True to enter the mode, do not fight or die, which at that time Opposing the 3G auction is like closing the door to salvation, not giving True a license to operate, according to an article from TDRI: The road to 3G has had many obstacles in the past two years (2010). ) The Supreme Administrative Court has ruled to suspend the auction of 3G licenses of the “National Telecommunications Commission” to make way for the establishment. “The Broadcasting Committee television business and the National Telecommunications Service” or NBTC. The delay made Thailand become the last country in the world to have 3G.
In the runaway era, True Move had hoped that the auction 3G in the middle of 2010 will be a turning point. make it possible to extend the service contract and Make True Move more competitive with competitors But the dreams must be shattered with many powers Both suing the Administrative Court to stop Resistance from many sectors, the 3G auction fell until the True Group’s contract was about to expire. to buy breath Use the contract that the Hutz group has, ready to receive 6.3 billion baht in debt to survive another 3 years in order for AIS to terminate the concession contract. and having to enter the 3G auction by default, but it’s worth it which allows True to survive until the end of the concessions along with others Making the 3G auction happen without resistance from any side, it can be considered that Thailand has entered the 3G era, almost the slowest in the world. by the auction of spectrum for 3G service on October 16, 2012
4th era, 4G era, send horses to race, JAS auctions 4G, abandons licenses, leaving only a steep price
The history of the 900 MHz spectrum auction must be written once more. After having created a history of auctions that last up to 4 days from 15-18 December 2015, including the fact that Thailand will have a new mobile phone service provider in the industry such as Jas Mobile Broadband Company Limited, which Knock the auction in the 1st lot for a price of up to 75,654 million baht.
But the latest history that no one expected this time. Instead, the insults made by many who did not believe that Jazz would participate in the auction, did not believe that Jazz had the potential to serve. And do not believe that Jazz will knock on the auction with such a high value than expected, it turned out to be true on March 21, 2016, which is the last day of payment of the first auction amount of 8,040 million baht with a certificate of guarantee. financial (Bank guarantee) about 72,000 million baht, but there is no shadow. Or any whispers indicating a slight sign that Jazz will not really pay the bills.
industrial destruction By adding huge costs from manipulating prices and leaving licenses for other operators to bear the burden instead. It’s the biggest problem in the industry. That should make a monument to remember the coming of JAS. Society should learn that. The addition of another new entrepreneur has created a strong competitive edge in the market. But it’s not like that. JAS came in and knocked the price too high and eventually dropped. At that time, True wanted to enter 4G and knocked on the price to compete with JAS, while DTAC dropped out first, followed by AIS, dropped out after. Only got one license, while TRUE knocked the price down until it got two. Finally, when JAS dropped the license, the wave price was almost the highest in the world. The government then invited AIS to obtain the remaining licenses at a price that JAS could bid, which AIS accepted, making the service cost of Thai operators one of the highest in the world. In which the 4G auction has received a huge amount of money for the state. People cheering all over the NBTC came back to announce the success. Said that it was a work that made the government earn a lot of money. enough to be used with the digital TV auction to get the highest price The cost has made entrepreneurs go bankrupt. as well as entrepreneurs