CAT chief financial officer Jirayuth Rungsrithong said the top item on the agenda is CAT's plan to procure mobile phones jointly with Hutchison-CAT, in order to create purchasing bargaining power over global handset suppliers.

Moreover, CAT plans to use Hutchison-CAT's existing software system to deliver its wireless content to its own customers, he said.

Hutchison-CAT, which is 75:25 owned by Hong Kong's telecom giant Hutchison Telecom and CAT, has marketed Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) 2000 1-x cellular service on a network in 25 provinces. It has leased the network from BFKT, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hutchison Telecom.

CAT is set to provide similar CDMA cellular service next month on its network in 51 provinces.

CAT also asked Hutchison-CAT to use the same brand icon for its CDMA service, although they would use different brands, Jirayuth said. Hutchison-CAT has used the Hutch brand, while CAT will use CAT CDMA brand.

The state agency set aside a marketing budget of Bt300 million this year for its CDMA service, which targets 150,000 subscribers this year. In the first phase, the company will focus on providing an air-card service, which will enable users to access the Internet on their laptop computers at a fast speed via its CDMA network.

Both have yet to finish talks on possible network collaboration and amendment of the marketing contract CAT granted to Hutchison-CAT, in order to promote flexibility in their marketing activities.

Hutchison-CAT, which entered the market several years ago, currently has more than 700,000 subscribers. CAT's revenue share from the joint venture dropped to Bt2.054 billion last year, from Bt2.189 billion in 2005.

The Council of State is examining whether the marketing contract of Hutchison-CAT complies with state-private joint-investment law.

Usanee Mongkolporn

The Nation