The mobile operator hopes the project will enable it to capitalise on emerging digital lifestyle trends and provide strong competition against dominant market player True, for both 4G and fixed-line broadband services.
The parent group of AIS, InTouch, has been trying to expand its digital approach with ventures in mobile, satellite, cloud computing and digital TV amongst others.
“We are aiming at what we term non-AIS revenue to generate up to 25% of the group’s revenue over the next five to seven years, up from 6% now,” said Somprasong Boonyachai, executive chairman at InTouch.
“AIS will remain the primary source of revenue for our group, as a mobile is no longer a luxury item.”
Somchai Lertsutiwong, CEO at AIS, said that approximately 15 billion baht of the initial investment will be spent on 4G licence auctions, with the deployment of 4G infrastructure to account for a further 40 billion baht.
The company has already spent 4.8 billion baht on the installation of 100,000km of fibre-optic cable with the capacity to cover 300,000 users.
Earlier this week, Thai regulators announced plans for a September 2015 4G auction.
