True ups Internet speed to two megabits per second

The new package offers a speed of two megabits per second for a monthly fee of Bt890. It targets 100,000 subscribers before the end of this year, half of whom are expected to be existing subscribers upgrading to the new package.

True's managing director for home, consumer and high-speed access business, Thiti Nantapatsiri, said the package would serve customers who regularly visited video sites and sent heavy files.

True's main competitor and concession owner, TOT, offers a similar package costing about Bt1,000 per month.

Last year True kicked off its high-speed Internet services by offering a speed of one megabit per second for a monthly fee of Bt599. The package attracted 250,000 subscribers last year.

Currently, True has the largest share of the broadband Internet market, with 600,000 subscribers out of a total of more than 1 million household broadband users in Thailand.

The figure suggests that the market still has plenty of room for growth, given that Thailand has around 16 million households, Thiti said.

TOT says it has more than 480,000 broadband Internet subscribers.

In total, Thailand has about 11 million dial-up and broadband Internet subscribers in a population of about 63 million.

According to Bualuang Securities, True is expected to record a net profit of Bt2.2 billion in the first quarter of this year, due mainly to foreign exchange gains of about Bt2 billion.