The recent move by anti-government groups to call a boycott against Advanced Info Service might not produce a quick windfall for cellular rivals of the market leader.

While Total Access Commu-nication (DTAC) and True Move each has enough room on its network to cater easily to millions of new customers, an industry observer said he did not expect to see swarms of AIS users flocking to them. Mobile-phone users in general hate to have to change their phone numbers, he said.

And mobile number portability, which allows consumers to keep their old number even after switching to another service provider, will not be introduced by the telecom regulator until late this year.

A telecom analyst said it was still too early to tell if the boycott campaign would hurt AIS.

A DTAC source claimed the telecom was not that eager to accept AIS customers who want to come over just because they want to show their opposition to the Shin deal.

"We'd feel better if they switched to us because of our own attractive tariff packages," the source said.

He said he did not expect a big exodus of customers from AIS since AIS's competitors have refrained from exploiting the situation by launching high-profile enrolment campaigns.

"We want to avoid being dragged into politics and branded as 'opportunists'," he added.

AIS, a subsidiary of Shin Corp Plc, has more than 16.5 million customers.

DTAC has more than eight million subscribers, while its network can accommodate nine to 10 million customers. The company is rolling out its network to catch up with AIS in the provincial market.

Last week an activist group threatened to call an embargo of goods and services related to the Shin group and Singaporean companies.

Resentment boiled over after Prime Minister Thaksin Shina-watra's family sold off its major stake in Shin to Singapore's state investment arm, Temasek Holdings, in January.

The protesters regard the deal as the sale of national assets to a foreign power.

Shin businesses cover TV, satellite and cellular services.

True Move executives were not available to comment on the boycott. The company has more than four million subscribers to its network, which can handle seven million users.

True Move will spend about Bt10 billion on network expansion this year.

An AIS executive source said the company had witnessed "irregular" migration of customers since early this month and was monitoring the situation to find the cause and possible solutions.

AIS vice president for marketing Titipong Khiewpaisal said late last week that AIS had yet to feel any pressure from the anti-Singapore campaign.

Another AIS executive said the firm had been signing up 15,000-16,000 prepaid customers daily, which is the "usual rate".

Telecom Reporters

The Nation