Samart Corp Plc has set up two handset trading firms, in Singapore and Hong Kong, mainly to tap the Chinese market as part of its plan to become a major regional handset distributor.

Company president Watchai Vilailuck said yesterday that the trading firms in both Singapore and Hong Kong would also explore other Asian markets besides China.

The Singaporean firm is a joint venture between its flagship handset distributor Samart i-Mobile Plc and local partners, but the Hong Kong firm is wholly owned by Samart i-Mobile.

This year, Samart expects to sell 1.5 million mobile phones in Thailand and 300,000 in its existing foreign markets, such as Malaysia, Cambodia and Sri Lanka, an increase from 700,000 units and 100,000 units, respectively, last year. "We believe we can be a regional player in the next two years," Watchai said.

He said in Thailand, the company would focus on selling middle and low-end handsets in the second half of the year, in line with the slowing economy.

"Next year, we'll set up our own design team to work on the design of our house-brand devices. We'll make them much more appealing to the Asian market," he said.

Samart i-Mobile has distributed both house- and international-brand handsets in Thailand and abroad. Manufacturers in Taiwan and China produce the house-brand handsets for the company.

Watchai said Samart i-Mobile would soon sign a deal with Motorola to distribute Motorola handsets through its foreign channels.

In a separate matter, Watchai said the company's Telecom Clearing House would close deals to provide an interconnection-payment settlement service next month with all major cellular operators but declined to elaborate.

The national telecom regulator is implementing the interconnection charge, which requires all telecom operators to share voice revenues between networks. The major cellular operators are discussing whether to pay the fees to each other directly or through independent clearing-houses.

A Samart source said Advanced Info Service Plc and Total Access Communication had agreed to settle fees through Telecom Clearing House.

Usanee Mongkolporn

The Nation