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AIS president Wichian Mektrakarn said that despite the flagging economy, AIS had maintained its service-revenue growth forecast of between 7 and 8 per cent for the full year.

According to its filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand, service revenue, excluding interconnection fees, grew 8.3 per cent year on year to Bt20.665 billion in the third quarter, due to strong growth in prepaid and non-voice revenue. Selling and administrative expenses declined 7.7 per cent to Bt2.732 billion.

The largest cellular operator acquired a net additional 810,000 customers in the quarter, taking its total to 26.8 million.

AIS's competitor Total Access Communication (DTAC) recently reported net profit of Bt1.8 billion for the third quarter, up 35 per cent from the same period last year. DTAC gained a net additional 780,425 customers, pushing its customer base to 18.2 million.

Meanwhile, satellite operator Thaicom expects consolidated revenue of more than Bt7 billion this year and forecasts double-digit revenue growth next year, its chief financial officer Tanadit Charoenchan said yesterday.

Thaicom posted a net loss of Bt115 million in the third quarter, due to a foreign-exchange loss of Bt146 million. If this amount were to be stripped out, normal net operating profit would be Bt31 million.

Thaicom's sales and service revenue in the quarter was Bt1.782 billion, up 27.6 per cent year on year.

Tanadit said the company was concerned about whether the global economic crisis would seriously affect Thailand, but he expressed optimism that the satellite sector would not be hit hard, given that it is now a commonly needed service.

Shin Corp owns 42.67 per cent of AIS and 41.27 per cent of Thaicom.