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Published on October 5, 2007

General manager Suwat Punnachaiya yesterday said the company expected service revenue of Bt200 million this year and Bt400 million next year, with 20 per cent of each amount as profit.

TTGN provides the service through connectivity with the Internet backbones of Hong Kong, the United States and France as well as direct links with Google, the biggest search-engine provider in the United States.

This is to allow all Google users quick access to content on Google's website.

Suwat said the company had spent around Bt100 million on establishing the links.

TTGN, a subsidiary of TT&T, holds a licence from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to provide the international Internet gateway service.

"The competition in the Internet-gateway market will be even stronger next year because all major service providers are continuously improving the capability, differentiating their service qualities and also lowering the cost," he added.

TTGN also forecast higher demand for Internet

bandwidth next year, given that major local Internet

service providers (ISPs) have vied to offer lower

monthly fees with higher broadband Internet access speeds.

Industry observers forecast that the number of household broadband subscribers will reach one million this year, with 30-per-cent growth next year.

Next year TTGN plans to spend more than Bt50 million on installation of additional gateway equipment and to expand its gateway network to neighbouring countries - Cambodia, Burma and Laos.

Suwat said the company had already signed a service agreement with a partner service provider in Cambodia to establish network switching between the countries and cooperate in offering the gateway service for ISPs in Cambodia. It also has a similar agreement with a service provider in Burma.

TTGN has also applied for an NTC licence to operate an international-call service, which it expects to obtain soon. The existing NTC overseas-call licensees include the DTAC Network of Total Access Communication and AIN Global Com of Advanced Info Service.

Usanee Mongkolporn, The Nation