TOT: World-Class Quality

TOT Public Company Ltd. (formerly the Telephone Organization of Thailand) is the largest fixed-line telephone operator in Thailand. At ITU Telecom World 2013, held in Bangkok, TOT CEO Yongyuth Wattanasin talked to ZTE TECHNOLOGIES about TOT’s market development strategies, grand goals, and contributions to Smart Thailand 2020.

Q: How would you describe Thailand’s telecom market?

A: Thailand’s telecom market is facing new challenges such as the emergence of 3G, high-speed internet, and OTT-based digital TV. In the mobile market, especially the 3G market, the main operators are AIS, DTAC and True BFKT. TOT started developing the 3G market long ago and has completed phase 1 of its network rollout, which involved building 5320 base stations. In phase 2, TOT plans to find a partner to help expand the network and quickly cover the whole country. TOT wants to become a leading player in the 3G market and hopes that phase 2 will be completed in 2014.

Another market in Thailand’s telecom industry is high-speed internet for factories and enterprises. This market has always been very competitive. In 2014, TOT will also strengthen its input in this market. Meanwhile, as network services develop, digital TV will also become popular.

Q: What is TOT’s marketing strategy?

A: At present, TOT needs to increase its revenue. We have a number of marketing strategies and key projects to boost our market performance. These involve

●    expanding our broadband network to two million ports. We will invest THB 30 billion to build an FTTX network. We will also reduce our ADSL subscriber base in batches and gradually replace all our ADSL networks with optical networks. We believe that the new FTTX network will offer a brand new user experience on the application layer.

●    replacing telephone exchanges. We are investing in an NGN to reconstruct our existing TDM network, which was built 25 years ago. We will overlay a Softswitch onto our existing network. The NGN will create sustainable revenue but we will retain our existing subscribers. The NGN will also support future-proof technologies. We plan to invest THB 3 billion in this project.

●    Submarine cable or international internet cable project. We will build a submarine cable across the Gulf of Thailand. This cable will connect Thailand with Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and America. We have already invested labor and other resources in this project. The other part of the project is to connect Singapore with Europe. This project will connect to the international network through submarine cables, which will better support our services. We plan to invest THB 7 billion in this project.

●    3G phase 2 expansion project. We plan to invest about THB 30 billion to provide 3G services across the whole of Thailand so that the public can experience fast 3G. To ensure quick entry into the market, we need to find a partner. This is critical at the moment.

Q: What is the standard when you choose a strategic partner?

A: TOT has an R&D center in Pathum Thani. Although we have not yet produced any products, we will find partners in OEM mode. We will also develop new technologies and move towards equipment manufacturing. We hope to change the current equipment purchasing mode in order to reduce our operational costs. This is our preliminary goal.

TOT has recruited 17,000 employees over the past 60 years, but a large number of these employees lack necessary knowledge and skills. Therefore, we need to import many professionals to interact with our existing R&D staff and update our knowledge base in areas such as IP/MPLS. This is another reason that we need a strong, reliable partner that can help us move forward.

Q: ITU Telecom World 2013 is being held in Bangkok. TOT is a major sponsor and co-organizer of the event. What opportunities do you think ITU will create for TOT?

A: We are honored to be hosting ITU Telecom World 2013. This is a grand meeting in the global telecom industry and allows us to preview inspirational new technologies that will emerge in the next one or two years. Telecom organizations and competitors from all over the world have booths that let us see the trends in service development. Of course, TOT has also demonstrated its own 3G technologies. Our phase 2 project will combine 3G and 4G (LTE) so that they share a 2.1 GHz frequency band. On November 18, 2013, TOT showed future applications for a series of products and services that included 3G and payment gateway. This is similar to when China Telecom demonstrated its 4G technologies at Connect Asia. At present, our 3G network has covered most areas in Thailand.

Q: The Thai government is planning a national strategy called Smart Thailand 2020. How will TOT support this plan?

A: Smart Thailand 2020 is a government project aimed at promoting high-speed internet to each household and industry sector. Our goal is to provide this service to 80% of households by 2015 and 95% of households by 2017. TOT has been designated by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to be the main service provider for this project. The project comprises ICT free Wi-Fi and TOT Wi-Fi. TOT will invest in building about 30,000 access points, and the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) will provide funding for TOT to build another 150,000 access points. Thus, we will have nearly 200,000 access points that cover most of Thailand. We will have to consider how to use this huge network and what services we can offer.

Q: Could you give ZTE some advices? In your opinion, what can ZTE do to help TOT develop in the future? 

A: We think that ZTE has a full range of telecom products and very good development prospects in Thailand. ZTE is cooperating with all five operators in Thailand. ZTE’s high-quality products, especially switches and routers, have been widely used in TOT’s fixed-line networks. We hope that ZTE continues to focus on 3G and 4G network planning and equipment solutions in Thailand. The mobile market here will grow strongly in the future.

Q: What is TOT’s goal in the next three years?