True’s packages offer 800 text messages for Bt250 or Internet for Bt599 a month.

Supachai Chearavanont, True's chief executive, said yesterday that AIS was undercutting smaller players by swamping their networks with a flood of calls through its rock-bottom pricing promotions.

The National Telecommunications Commission's anti-monopoly regulations, which went into effect last month, define unfair competition as an operator with more than 25-per-cent market share pricing calls below cost in order to put a squeeze on its rivals.

AIS latest prepaid promotion charges Bt1 per minute for a call during peak hours and Bt1 per call during off-peak hours to any network. The promotion ends next month.

AIS president Wichian Mektrakarn said the promotion was for new subscribers and the rate was not lower than the company's cost.

Supachai said AIS' call rate was estimated to be lower than AIS' cost and lower than the interconnection rate, which is expected to be finalised at around Bt1 per call minute.

The NTC interconnection regime requires all telecoms to share revenue from voice calls between networks. The operators are in talks to finalise interconnection rates they will charge each other.

Supachai said True Move would soon launch a promotional package to counter AIS's, which will inevitably lead to a new price war.

The price war in the cellular industry early this year overloaded networks and cut into second-quarter profits of all operators.

True Move, a subsidiary of True, is the third-largest cellular operator with 5.3 million users, while AIS has 17 million and Total Access Communication (DTAC) has 10 million.

Recently DTAC said it would bring out a call package to match AIS's offer.

Supachai said True Move's network could serve eight million subscribers.

NTC chairman Choochart Promphrasid said the AIS case would be taken up after True submitted a formal complaint to the regulator, but he declined to say how long the review would take.

Usanee Mongkolporn

 The Nation