The cellularservice market is expected to grow 35 per cent in value this year, from more than Bt150 billion last year, driven by rising demand for nonvoice services and a rebound in international roaming, True Move said yesterday.
Chief commercial officer Suphakit Vuntanadit said the market would also this year see 3 million to 4 million net additional subscribers.
Service revenue will grow in line with the market's growth.
True Move itself achieved service revenue, excluding interconnection fees, of Bt23.6 billion last year, up 3.4 per cent from 2008. It now has almost 16 million mobilephone subscribers.
Suphakit said 2010 was shaping up to be a "war year" for nonvoice services, with cellular operators being more aggressive in offering data services, including mobile Internet. They will focus on datanetwork quality rather than dataservice pricing.
Last year, True Move posted revenue of Bt3.13 billion for all nonvoice services, up 17 per cent from 2008. Nonvoice revenue presently accounts for 13 per cent of all service revenue.
True Move is the cellular flagship of True Corp, which is known for bundling the group's services to attract more customers. Its businesses range from fixedline telephones to cellular service, broadband Internet and pay TV.
True Move now provides thirdgeneration (3G) wireless broadband on its existing 850megahertz spectrum on a noncommercial trial basis via 600 3G 850MHz base stations, 500 of which are in Bangkok and the rest in five key provinces.
The company plans to spend Bt3 billion to Bt4 billion this year to enhance the capacity of its existing 2G and 3G 850MHz networks.
