Cell-phone firms get more numbers
The board of the national telecom regulator yesterday approved the allocation of an additional 500,000 mobile-phone numbers each to Advanced Info Service Plc, Total Access Communication (DTAC) and True Move to ease their number shortages.
The three largest mobile-phone operators had each requested an additional two million numbers from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). The allocation is the final allotment of numbers in the NTC's reserve and all have nine digits, said chairman Choochart Promphrasid. Next week the NTC's board will discuss the means of allocating the new 10-digit numbers to telecom operators as part of its new numbering policy, which will see the total amount of mobile-phone numbers increase to 300 million from the current 90 million. The operators' attractive promotional packages in the second quarter, including a SIM card give-away, have aided quick sales of numbers. AIS has 17 million customers, while DTAC has more than 10 million and True Move more than five million. This year AIS hopes to add 1.2 million new customers, while DTAC hopes for 2.5 million. True Move aims to end the year with six million customers. As of June 30, AIS owned 23.6 million numbers, while DTAC had 15.2 million and True Move 9.5 million. Recently, the NTC allocated an additional 500,000 new numbers to DTAC, although the operator had sought two million. On February 3 the NTC allocated two million numbers to True Move, giving the same amount to DTAC on February 23. Usanee Mongkolporn The Nation
|
