"Even some free-TV operators are interested in the pay-TV business, so it's not strange if we're interested in heading into their frontier," he said.

When asked if he would make a foray into the free-TV sector by acquiring a new licence or joining with existing free-TV operators such as iTV, Supachai answered that he had yet to think about that.

True owns the leading pay-TV operator United Broadcasting Corp Plc (UBC).

The board of the Stock Exchange of Thailand yesterday approved the delisting plan of UBC, saying that its securities will remain listed until April 10 and will formally be delisted from the SET the following day.

UBC has recently launched a new programme package worth Bt340 monthly to tap mainly the provincial market. The package features 42 channels, which includes free-TV stations. Supachai expects the package will sign up about 190,000 subscribers this year.

UBC targets a total of 650,000 subscribers this year, up from the present 500,000, he added. Of the existing subscribers, 71 per cent are in Bangkok.

UBC has spent between Bt250 million to Bt300 million on developing the new package and another Bt100 million on its marketing campaign.

True has also rebranded the UBC brand as UBC True.

True will introduce an Internet Protocol-based TV service within the next couple of months, from which subscribers can receive TV or video on demand and other multimedia content via a broadband Internet connection.

In a separate matter, Supachai said that despite the ongoing political turmoil, all companies within the True group would proceed as planned, adding that he believed the political problems would be resolved soon.

True's share price yesterday closed at Bt10.80, up from Bt10.50, while that of UBC closed at Bt20.80, up from Bt16.

Usanee Mongkolporn The Nation