AIS and TOT Strike 3G Roaming Deal

Advanced Info Service (AIS) and TOT have made a deal under which AIS customers would be given roaming access on the TOT 3G network for data, and TOT customers will get roaming access to the AIS network for voice and data services.

This deal should help AIS expand its 3G service so it can compete with True Corp, which has partnered with CAT Telecom. A TOT source said both sides had agreed on the matter and were waiting for the deal to take effect soon.

TOT apparently sent the draft contract to AIS as soon as it looked like Pheu Thai was going to take over the country's reins. Party leader Yingluck Shinawatra is the former president of AIS. Negotiations for this deal have been going on since last year. The source said that under this deal, TOT would initially allow 60,000 AIS customers to use its 3G network in Greater Bangkok for data roaming, while AIS will allow 200,000 TOT customers voice access and 10,000 customers for data services.

Under the deal, both sides are allowed to provide roaming access to a million customers each. AIS will pay TOT a roaming fee of 85 satang for each megabyte downloaded, while TOT will pay AIS a promotional rate of 60 satang per minute for subscribers using the AIS network for voice service, Bt1 per SMS and 85 satang per megabyte of data downloaded.

The TOT source added that AIS initially wanted to charge a roaming fee of Bt1.10 per minute, but later agreed to bring it down to the promotional rate. AIS will also give TOT 30 per cent of the revenue it earns from subscribers using the TOT network for roaming access. The TOT source said this deal was not exclusively for AIS, but AIS had the right to ask TOT to refuse other telecom firms.

AIS wants its subscribers to use the TOT network for roaming access in order to ease the burden on its 3G-900 MHz network, which is serving voice and data services to more than 30 million customers. However, partners that provide the 3G service on TOT's existing network are against the deal because they are concerned AIS would compete with them to acquire customers.