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Published on February 27, 2008

"Operators already have low profit margins due to tough competition in the sector. However, they are willing to help reduce users' costs by cutting some call fees for a short period," CAT Telecom senior executive vice president Jirayuth Rungsrithong said yesterday.

He said Hutchison-CAT and True Move were making losses from their operations, while Advanced Info Service and Total Access Communication (DTAC) were only making low profits due to tough competition.

The average rate for a mobile-phone service is Bt200 a month.

Jirayuth said the government should guarantee that its policy of making calls cheaper would be only for a short term so that service providers could continue to operate without making a financial loss.

He said call rates in Thailand were very low compared with those of other countries. All operators will finalise their plans for price reductions next week.

Internal Trade Department director-general Yangyong Phuangrach said companies were looking at how they could reduce service fees, as a mobile phone was an essential item for many people. There are about 50 million mobile phones in use in Thailand out of a population of 65 million people.

To provide cheaper services, companies will offer low-cost packages or reduce the price of post-paid SIM cards for a specific period, Yangyong said.

The department will also meet with private hospital operators this week to ask for their cooperation in bringing down the price of services and medicines to make healthcare more affordable for people.

Petchanet Pratruangkrai

The Nation