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Published on October 8, 2007

TOT achieved a net profit of just over Bt4 billion during the first eight months, indicating it may well fall short of the year-end target of Bt8.168 billion.

TOT board director Supa Piyajitli said it would be difficult for the state agency to meet the net-profit target but TOT would work harder to achieve it by seeking more revenue from its rising-star broadband service.

TOT targets total revenue of Bt46.664 billion this year. During the past eight months, its revenue stood at Bt34.584 billion versus Bt40.349 billion over the same period last year.

Of total revenue as of August, Bt18.404 billion was from its own primary services, Bt984 million from the network-access charge, Bt13.78 billion from concession fees and Bt1.4 billion from other related businesses. Of total revenue from its own services, the fixed-line telephone business generated Bt9.8 billion during the past eight months, followed by the leased-line service with Bt2.94 billion, broadband Internet Bt1.4 billion and public-phone services Bt1.9 billion.

TOT collected lower access charges this year after Total Access Communica-tion (DTAC) and True Move stopped paying the charge to TOT last November, totalling over Bt8 billion at present.

All private cellular concessionaires of CAT Telecom - DTAC, True Move and Digital Phone - have paid the access charge to TOT for connecting different networks through the TOT network.

DTAC and True Move stopped the payment and have instead adopted the interconnection charge regulations set by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). The charge requires all telecom operators that signed bilateral interconnection deals to share voice and data revenue between the networks involved in the calls.

TOT plans to roll out additional broadband-network facilities nationwide. Its board last Friday approved the state agency's plan to ask several telecom network suppliers to propose prices for the broadband-network equipment of the project.

The project's referential price is Bt975 million and the price tender process is expected to be finished next month.

The board also approved TOT's purchase of 17,500 iPSTAR satellite receiving terminals from the iPSTAR broadband satellite to provide the broadband Internet connection service.

The state agency successfully asked the satellite operator Shin Satellite to lower the price of the terminals to Bt448 million from the original Bt539 million.

TOT expects to reach the break-even point from the purchase within three years and the service to generate an average revenue per user of Bt600 monthly.

TOT is the wholesale and retail iPSTAR broadband service provider of Shin Sat.

Telecom Reporters

The Nation