There have been rumours almost every month this year that foreign telecom firms, including Telekom Malaysia, have approached True about deals.

The latest rumours are that China Mobile and First Pacific, a Hong Kong-based investment and management company with business interests related to telecommunications, have done so.

True chief executive Supachai Chearavanont keeps denying the rumours.

He once insisted that if True took on a strategic partner, it would be an investment group with no interest in management rights and the partner could have only 25 per cent.

A source from the investment banking industry said that Supachai had in fact often refused to meet foreign suitors from that sector.

A source at True said the company saw no need to rush into any decision.

True, which has huge debts of around Bt85 billion, is the only local telecom giant with no foreign strategic ally. The leading cellular operator, Advanced Info Service, has Singapore Telecom as its strategic partner, while Norway's telecom giant Telenor is the strategic partner of the second largest operator, Total Access Communication.

True was founded by the agricultural conglomerate Charoen Pokphand. Its businesses range from fixed-line telephone services through cellular services to Internet access and pay television.

Its cellular flagship True Move has over 7.6 million subscribers and its pay-TV operator True Visions over 600,000. Its broadband Internet service has the most users, over 500,000.

True also holds an Internet gateway licence and Internet phone licence and is waiting for a licence from the National Telecommunications Commission to operate an overseas-call service.

It also owns the 2.5GHz spectrum, which can be utilised for wireless broadband on the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, or WiMax, system technology.

True has continued bundling all of its group's existing services into one package and offering it to the group's customers as part of its synergy policy, which was initiated by Supachai to reinforce the group's strength.

True's share price closed at Bt7.35 on Friday, down from Bt7.50.