DTAC expects improved telecom-industry growth

"We expect industry growth of 5-10 per cent. This is because we expect the overall economy to grow in the range of 5-6 per cent," Brekke said.

DTAC believes the industry will sign up 8 million to 10 million new subscribers this year. Of these, DTAC expects at least 35 per cent, or about 3 million new subscribers.

Brekke said the telecom industry suffered last year from high fuel prices, a difficult economic situation and low consumer confidence. DTAC hopes the new government will stimulate economic growth, which will in turn lift growth in the telecom business.

Thailand's second-largest cellular operator posted revenue of Bt65.6 billion last year, up 35 per cent year on year, due to customer growth and the introduction of the interconnection fee regime last February. If not for the interconnection fees of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), its revenue would have grown only 6 per cent year on year.

Last year's net profit was Bt5.8 billion, up 18 per cent from 2006.

DTAC recorded 3.9 million new customers last year, increasing its total number of customers to 15.8 million.

The company is listed on both Thailand and Singapore's stock exchanges.

DTAC's share price on the Stock Exchange of Thailand closed yesterday at Bt44.25, down from Bt45.75 last Friday. Its share price in the Singaporean market closed at US$1.42, up 15.45 per cent from last Friday.

The interconnection-fee regulations that made such a difference to DTAC's revenue last year require all telecom operators to share voice and data revenue fairly between any two networks involved in a calls.

In the fourth quarter, DTAC paid combined net interconnection fees of Bt295 million to AIS and True Move, down from Bt498 million in the third quarter.

Chief commercial officer Thana Thienachariya said DTAC expected its net interconnection fees to fall to zero from this year's first quarter, following an increase in call rates between different networks.

DTAC and True Move both opted to adopt the NTC's interconnection-

charge regulations last February and discontinued their payment of access charges to TOT.

Previously, the access charges were paid to TOT by DTAC, True Move and Digital Phone - all holders of CAT Telecom concessions - for connecting to different networks via TOT's facilities. TOT earned Bt14 billion a year in combined access charges from the three cellular operators.

TOT has filed a lawsuit with the Central Administrative Court demanding DTAC and True Move pay Bt14 billion in outstanding access charges.

Sirivish Toomgum

The Nation