The four foreign operators are two companies from China, one from Japan and one from Indonesia.

TOT, which is one of the top fixed-line broadband service providers, will set up the company to run its fixed broadband service. Currently TOT has 1.3 million |fixed-line broadband service subscribers.

TOT president Montchai Noosong said the strategic partner would help TOT survive the intensely competitive fixed-line broadband market

At the same time, TOT and CAT will have three similar core businesses merge to form new companies namely, the National Broadband Network (NBN), the Neutral Gateway Network (NGN), and the Internet Data Center (IDC). TOT will lead the creation of NBN, while CAT will lead the establishment of NGN and IDC.

Montchai said that TOT was preparing to hire consultants for creating the consolidated companies and the fixed broadband company, with hiring expected to finish next month.

Wireless broadband

In a related issue, Montchai said TOT expected to seek a strategic partner for its plan to develop a wireless broadband service on its 60 megahertz of 2.3 gigahertz specctrum by end of this year.

He said TOT was in the process of selecting an adviser to find the strategic partner.

TOT forecasts securing a profit margin from the project of around Bt3 billion a year, starting from next year.

In July, TOT’s board approved the plan to seek the partner for this investment by sending invitations to international telecom suppliers and local telecom operators to propose the business plan.

According to the new investment, there are two distinct parts.

The first involves inviting all foreign suppliers – there are currently three, Hauwei, Ericsson and Nokia – to submit investment plans with financial terms.

The second part involves surveying potential capacity demand on the 2.3GHz network by Advanced Info Service, Total Access Communication and True Group.

TOT is conducting the technical test on the 2.3GHz service along certain sections of the Skytrain routes and in Ratchburi.

This year TOT is expected to suffer a total loss at around Bt10 billion. Its revenue in the first six months was Bt12.45 billion, below the expectation of Bt18.1. billion, and with a loss of Bt6 billion.