The talk session led by Dr Santitarn Sathirathai, Group Chief Economist of Sea Group, highlighted the objectives to broaden the perspectives for organizations, the people of Thailand, as well as the society as a whole to keep up with the pace of ‘Digital Transformation’ which plays a heavy role in changes of the modern lifestyles and the country’s fast-paced development.

The talk show also included a panel discussion session under the topic of “Shaping the Future: Discovering Essential Skills for Future Workforce” in order to find out and share views on necessary skill sets that the new generation and professionals should possess for work, study and general adaptation amongst changes in the society. Panelists joining the session consisted of gurus and experts from various industries, such as Dr. Sarut Vanichpun, Director of Sea (Thailand), Mr. Rawit Hanutsaha, Chief Executive Officer of Srichand United Dispensary Co.,Ltd, Asst. Prof. Chaiyaporn Puprasert, Vice President of Student & Alumni Affairs, Chulalongkorn University and Mr. Chayut Sakunkoo, Chief Executive Officer of Tact Social Consulting Co., Ltd.

The talk show event welcomed a large number of participants who are professionals of many different sectors including business, technology, start-up and education.

Leveraging competitive edge for organizations, while fostering the societal awareness for ‘Digital Transformation’

‘Digital Transformation’ has been a worldwide phenomenon, especially in the professional world and amongst the new generations. The core of ‘Digital Transformation’ is to bring in the ‘Digital Technology’ as integration to all parts of the business, from cloud computing, big data, internet of things (IoT) and many others. From business processes to setting the goals for the company’s future growth, ‘Digital Transformation’ has become vital for organizations to adapt well and thrive in today’s rapid changes. Thailand has also been in an effort to adapt to respond to the ‘Disruption’ that has occurred, with the government trying to push the ‘Thailand 4.0′ policy to change the macro-economic structure to be ‘Value-Based’ economy or ‘Innovation-Driven’ economy.

At present, the private sector and various companies are trying to bring technology to improve business efficiency and meet the needs of consumers more directly. Information from ‘Dell Technologies’ and ‘Intel’ indicated that 7% of Thai businesses are ‘Digital Leaders’, for which digital transformation is ingrained in the DNA of the business. The index categorized 40% of Thai businesses as ‘Digital Adopters’, which have mature digital plans, investments and innovations in place. Additionally, there are approximately 23% of the companies which are ‘Digital Followers’, with very little digital investment but careful planning of future innovationi. These data showed that Thailand is at the point of entering a fully digitized society.

Dr. Santitarn Sathirathai, Group Chief Economist, Sea (Group) revealed “As a leading internet company, Sea is committed to better the lives of the consumers and small businesses of Southeast Asia and Taiwan with technology through our digital businesses including Garena, Shope and Airpay. We have to adjust to respond to changing consumer behaviors over time, which has led us to become fully aware of the changes in many dimensions that occurred rapidly from technological advancement. Nowadays, everything has been transformed into a digital society and all things are ‘Disrupted’ with the inevitable digital process, causing more or less impacts on people in society in terms of daily living, working and how businesses are processed. Learning to develop oneself and adopting the full transition into the technological era will enable convenience to the lifestyle by fulfilling all needs. Therefore, Sea has hosted the special talk event ‘Sea Insight Future Focus’ which is a presentation of various perspectives and outlook about the changes caused by the coming waves of digital economy, as well as how we deal with disruption and new digital trends. At the same time, we also opened an opportunity for every participant to find out the answers on how to adjust and develop ourselves to be able to understand and brace for these changes, in order to overcome the limits and unlock new potentials within everyone.”

In an age where technology changes and ‘transforms’ all the time, ‘people’ become a major backlash in organizational development. However, information from Microsoft Digital Transformation Study in partnership with IDC Asia/Pacific on Unlocking the Economic Impact of Digital Transformationii found that despite 82% of Thai organizations has adjusted to respond the ‘Digital Transformation’, the real challenge lied within this digital change that business and entrepreneurial sectors will face is the severe lack of human resources and skill gaps in workforce, caused by unpreparedness and ignorance of the use of technology.

Dr. Sarut Vanichpun, Director of Sea (Thailand), added “We may not be able to clearly state that in the next 10 to 20 years, how the educational model which is the basis of life and the society will be transformed. However, the clearest thing which should be started right now is the preparedness for the future changes. Technology has proved to yield constructive benefits, although sometimes we would encounter obstacles in the adjustment process. Therefore, various organizations and educational institutions are urged to turn their focus on creating knowledge and understanding to provide assistance and support for the future labor market. Most importantly, skill trainings should be promoted amongst the Thai workforce. These include the ‘learning skills’ such as analytical thinking and creativity that will help personnel to solve new problems efficiently, the ‘literacy skills’ such as understanding of data, information and technology process that manage the data, and the ‘life skills’ such as experience to improve for the better, to adapt to new situations, leadership and passion in initiating, as well as dedication to create things on their own. We should aim to create flexibility in economic adaptation for the workforce market in order to conform to the new ways of work and the fast-changing society driven by technology and big data.”

“For Sea, we strive to be an organization that engages people with the skills of the future. We serve as a learning resource that helps increase opportunities and develop potential for our people. We also promote learning in the full and sustainable work process. For instance, for work management and flexibility, we let our employees try out their own decisions (Decentralization) under the guidance of the head of the department. We also centralize the decisions (Centralization) from the organization for employees to adhere to. Apart from this, we focus on supporting education and improving the ability of young students, including collaboration with several universities to develop courses in digital entertainment production and business management. We also regularly open opportunities for interns to come and work in our offices in order to gain the real-life experience, as well as giving out scholarships and grants through the company’s CSR initiatives. We hope to be part of the contribution for a sustainable growth of the digital industry and for all sectors of Thailand to move forward together into the full digital economy effectively and seamlessly,” Dr. Sarut concluded.

BEC World aims to become the top provider of content and entertainment, in terms of rating and revenue, by expanding its online operations in the next three to four years, said Ariya Banomyong, the new president and director of BEC World Pcl.

“TV broadcasting, our core business, is just one channel to generate revenue for the company. We are growing our online business and it is time to leverage our strength for sustainable growth,” he said.

To achieve that goal, he said, the company would focus on six areas of activities: TV Plus, integration of TV and online operations, distribution, intellectual property (IP), artists, content, and technology.

For the online channel TV Plus, the key strategy in the short term is to integrate and optimise the company’s online and TV-based businesses. The move would pool viewers under a single platform, which will eventually benefit both brands and audience.

The company will transfer content between the two platforms more effectively. Channel 3 has a big viewer base, the challenge is how to monetise and optimise it online.

Currently, the online platform contributes 5 per cent of the company’s overall revenue, he said, adding that it has the potential to reach 10 per cent this year with the implementation of the new business strategies.

In distribution, it would expand the scope of the company’s content and entertainment business through new types of partners, especially over-the-top (OTT) players.

Ariya sees TV broadcasting as a channel for distributing BEC World’s content and the way forward is to cooperate with OTT partners, both in the local and overseas markets. A plan is being drawn up, but it will not be disclosed to the public at the moment.

For IP and artists, the company will focus on monetising both IP and artists under a new model.

It will further boost revenue contribution from content service, one of its main sources of income, with new programmes. Dramas and news are currently the top draw of the channels.

Regarding the strategy on technology, Ariya said that would take time as it would be closely related to the future direction of BEC World’s business, adding it has the option of working on its own, investing in a developer or forming a partnership for the development.

“We may set up a new platform for the content and entertainment business,” he said.

Ariya, however, would not commit to the size of the platform or the number of staff, saying only that it would be proportionate to the task.

He said the current size of BEC World’s online viewers is ranked close to giant international platforms such as Line, Facebook, and YouTube in Thailand.

“A strategy will be proposed to the board of committees before roll-out. We will commit manpower, time and resources for the right strategy and results,” said Ariya.

He said the future of BEC World’s business will be both online and offline. We will not rely on online platforms. We are not a tech firm, we are a content and entertainment provider.

“The company should see higher contributions from areas of operations other than TV broadcasting, which accounts for 80 to 90 per cent of its total revenue. Income from online business should rise from 5 per cent to 10 per cent this year,” said Ariya.

BEC World has posted losses for four quarters. Ariya said his goal was to turn the company around and set it on a path to sustainable growth, but did not provide a timeline. The move will gather momentum early next year, he said.

“We will seek new business models. We need to go beyond TV but we must tread carefully as broadcasting is still our main source of revenue. The expected rise in contribution from online and new businesses will not be at expense of TV, but will generate extra income.

We do not start from zero, we have huge assets in content and viewers. We will explore new business models and monetise them most effectively,” said Ariya.

Fortunately, he said, Thailand is a market where people favour local content, which is a positive factor for BEC World.

He said he decided to join BEC World as he welcomed the challenge of taking the giant corporate to the top spot in the digital era in the next three to four years.

Bob Zhu, deputy general manager of Huawei Myanmar, told The Nation on Friday the firm would try its best to continue cooperating with Google, while preparing for the implementation of its own operating system as Plan B.

“We will keep  discussing with Google to find a proper solution for  our users to continue using Andriod systems. Once we have reached an agreement, we will continue our cooperation  with them,” he said.

“We do not want to use 100 per cent Huawei’s parts in our products. We always choose to cooperate with other partners so we can grow together. We will try our best to avoid using Huawei’s own parts in our mobile phones.”

Zhu insisted that Huawei preferred to choose Google, even if its own operating system is better than that of the US firm.

“We are trying to develop  our own operating system. But, Google Android is still our priority. If we can reach an agreement with Google, we will continue to install their systems in our products,” he said.

According to Zhu, Huawei users do not have to worry about losing access to Google services and related applications, as all Huawei phones and tablets already sold as well as those still in the market will not be affected by the US ban.

“For all products manufactured before the US ban, end users will get the same functions and services as before. These include Huawei products currently in the stock or in the market,” he said.

“We are still negotiating with Google. Whatever happens, that will only affect  new products and solutions to be produced in the future. Likewise, the current Huawei chipsets will not be affected because we have  been given  full authorisation.”

Zhu guaranteed that  all  products are safe to buy, as they will feature the same services as before. In this respect, Zhu is sure of  Huawei’s capability to maintain its leadership position in the Myanmar market.

“We are fully confident that the US ban will not affect our growth momentum. Like in many other countries, Myanmar people love to use Huawei smartphones, and the trend will go on,” he said.

“Amid the widespread rumours about Huawei, some people may hesitate to buy our products at this point. It is usual, but they will  regain their confidence in our products after our clarification. We believe people who like Huawei will continue to buy our products in the future.”

Plan B in place

With Huawei products and solutions covering nearly all aspects of the ICT era, the firm has long prepared  a Plan B, he said.

“We are well-prepared to drive our sustainable growth, even in time of  challenges. We do have a Plan B in place to offset any action that may affect our services and products. Plan B is designed to overcome a  bad situation.”

According to Zhu, Huawei has the capability to produce its own chips in the event the firm can no longer buy necessary parts from US companies.

“Our business is still growing, and we do not worry about the US ban and its impacts. But, we are still committed to cooperating with our partner companies all over the world,” he said.

Zhu said the news of some Japanese companies having joined the US  ban on Huawei was just a rumour.

“Panasonic and Toshiba have officially announced that they would keep  business cooperation with Huawei. There will be adverse effect from  the US ban,” he said.

“ As the US ban set in, rumours follow. But we just have to shrug them off and keep going.”

At the briefing, Zhu stressed the importance of Huawei’s commitment to cyber security, as more than one third of the world’s population use Huawei products to make phone calls and access to the internet. He said the US government does not have any evidence to prove that Huawei had breached its  cyber security standards.

“From the technology side, we will keep providing high security solutions and products, and we don’t have any major issue so far,” he said.

“We hope the US government considers cyber security as a technical problem, not a political problem.”

He said Huawei is not willing to get involved in the political conflicts between China and the US, with  both vying for the super power status.

“What we care is our business . We don’t want Huawei to be involved in politics,” he said.

IN ITS drive to become the leading online TV player in Thailand, Line TV will this year target people upcountry, most of whom are now mainly watching traditional offline TV.

Kawin Tangudtaisak, the content business director for Line Thailand, said most people in Thailand are still watching broadcast TV even though online-streaming TV is gradually growing, especially among the 20 million-strong urban population. Those urbanites are the core base audience of Line TV, while another 40 million Thais are viewed as a largely untapped opportunity.

“We are studying other new business models, even freemium, as many partners would like to use the freemium model with us. But we are still studying the options. We believe an advertising model would offer the best service for users,” said Kawin.

The sector is seeing added competition, each with different strengths, he said. For example Netflix came in with a subscription model while Line TV adheres to the advertising model, offering free content.

Line TV has strong partnerships with many content producers and benefits from having the core Line platform to drive marketing for Line TV.

“Our penetration is around 50 per cent of total broadcasting TV audiences,” said Kawin.

The Thai market is big enough to allow a variety of content. Line TV has deployed a “recommendation engine” to personalise content to match user preferences. Kawin said having more players in the market is a good thing as it creates an ecosystem.

“The market is big enough [to encourage] a variety of content from many platform, so we do not see everyone as competitors,” said Kawin.

It focuses on retention and play views, rather than the time spent, reflecting that it is a long-form platform and has a strong user base that ensures strong engagement. The user base grew by at least 50 per cent per year for the last four years, while play views grew at 90-100 per cent through that time.

“Content numbers are not our focus – we focus on quality and on optimising content. The volume of available content has not increased, but play views for each is heavily growing,” said Kawin.

Revenues for Line TV are mostly from pre-roll ads and sponsorships. It recently launched double pre-roll ads and is exploring post-roll ads.

“We will not annoy users in the middle with mid-roll ads,” said Kawin. The content also includes sponsorships and tie-ins.

Despite having its own large platform for marketing, the Line app, Line TV also has a marketing budget for both online and offline channels in order to drive awareness beyond engaged online audiences.

“The online channel is mostly for engagement and marketing performance, while offline is to drive awareness and to drive original content,” said Kawin.

Original content currently makes up less than 10 per cent of total content on Line TV. Still, it plays a role as an as innovation lab for Line TV and its partners to trial and test new content before launch on the broadcast TV platform.

People can watch Line TV on Apple TV, and it will soon be on Android TV and Chromecast. It will also be integrated into Line Today this year.

“We do not know what people’s viewing pattern will be in the future, said Kawin, but we believe it will be more online. Our goal is to keep up to it,” said Kawin.

For this year, he added, Line TV’s aim is to become the online TV player leader in Thailand, and that requires that it sign up people upcountry, most of whom are still watching offline TV.

Its partnerships with giant variety content producers such as Workpoint Entertainment is a key part of Line TV’s movement in this direction.

For the first time that Line TV and Workpoint have worked together to create original content, they came up with “Infinite Challenge Thailand”, which will first go on-air through Line TV and then have its second run an hour later on the Workpoint broadcast TV channel.

The hook-up with Workpoint aims to expand Line TV’s user-base upcountry. This is the first original content collaboration with Workpoint, a company very strong in variety content and popular among upcountry audiences.

“Original content does not mean only trying out new kinds of content ranging from drama to variety,

but also means trying out new ways of presenting the content,” said Kawin.

Instead of being shown as re-run after first being broadcast on a traditional TV platform, Infinite Challenge Thailand will first air on Line TV, and only then appear on broadcast TV an hour later.

Variety content offers huge potential growth for Line TV, as this year’s high play-views have demonstrated.

The move offers a chance to expand beyond core drama-loving audiences to those who enjoy variety, including attracting more male users.

Collaboration

The collaboration with Workpoint creates a new kind of on-air model that expands both user bases and advertising opportunities, he emphasised.

“Since our core content is drama, which is mostly watched by females, this year we are trying to expand to variety and animation content to attract more male users.

“This means more users upcountry, and that creates an opportunity to attract additional advertising brands to the platform,” said Kawin.

He confirmed that Line TV is exploring new kinds of content – such as entertainment, variety and foreign series – in order to engage new user groups.

“Now, over 80 per cent of content on Line TV is drama, while entertainment, variety and music is together around 20 per cent,” he

said. “Most drama audience members are women, and so now around 65-70 per cent of our users are female.

This move is also to extend our audience to include more men through entertainment and variety content. We aim this year to increase our male audiences to reach 40 per cent,” said Kawin.

Meanwhile, Chalakorn Panyashom, chief operation officer of Workpoint Entertainment Plc, said that even “Infinite Challenge Thailand” is not truly long-form content – but it is the kind of content that can retain users.

Workpoint’s variety content can boast several million play-views and most of its variety audience are regular customers. Its collaboration with Line TV aims to expand the platform’s content to reach a lot more users, said Chalakorn. It would eventually attract brands to advertise as the content expanded from offline to online.

“Infinite Challenge Thailand” has 15 episodes its total, and four episodes have already aired.

It is on air every Friday, on Line TV first at 8pm and at Workpoint TV channel at 9pm.

The companies refuse to disclose the budget for original content creation.

They have both invested in the series and are sharing revenues, but will not disclose further details.

The digital economy accounted for 19 per cent of Thailand’s GDP in 2018 and is expected to contribute Bt282 billion by 2021.

This is significant, as Thailand’s three million small-to-medium businesses are expected to generate 43 per cent of the country’s GDP in 2019.

The Facebook-Kenan move is aimed at training more than 1,000 SMEs across the country in 2019 from diverse communities, including historically marginalised groups.

The programme is focused on upskilling the enterprises, in line with the company’s commitment to help catalyse digital transformation, support inclusion and accelerate Thailand as a digital economy.

Participants will receive both in-person training and online resources using Facebook’s self-study platform, which will cover key topics such as creating Facebook and Instagram business pages, using creative content tools and growing audiences through insights.

The community partners involved in the project will serve diverse communities such as people with disabilities, the LGBTQ community, people in remote areas, and others.

Training sessions will be conducted nationwide from June to November, including in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, the Northeast, and the South.

Beth Ann Lim, head of community affairs for Asia-Pacific at Facebook, said Thais are enthusiastic, entrepreneurial and self-driven.

“Through this programme, we hope to bridge the skill gap by educating, equipping and empowering Thai SMEs across the country and from diverse communities to fully realise their digital aspirations and feel equipped to participate in Thailand’s digital transformation. We are delighted to be partnering with Kenan Foundation Asia and our government and community partners to expand digital skills in Thailand,” said Lim.

On the digital journey

According to the “Future of Business” report, Thai businesses and communities are already embracing the journey to digital, with 78 per cent saying they use digital tools like Facebook to showcase products and services to customers.

The study also found 94 per cent of small businesses surveyed understand that promoting products and services digitally, including on social media, is vitally important to their business.

Kenan plays the role of implementing NGO partner to lead this project. Piyabutr Cholvijarn, president and vice chairman of Kenan Foundation Asia, said that Boost with Facebook will enhance the competitiveness of small businesses and contribute to the realisation of Thailand 4.0 and the formation of a more inclusive society.

Strengthening small businesses to better succeed in the global economy is a core pillar of Kenan’s programming to help micro and small businesses along with empowering them to achieve their dreams.

Meanwhile, Ajarin Pattanapanchai, permanent secretary of Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, said the government must act as a facilitator for success, creating an ecosystem that nurtures the growth of our digital economy.

The private sector, particularly SMEs and startups, play a key role in driving this development, he said. The realisation of the government’s vision – that a digital economy will enable economic and social reform that brings steady growth in all dimensions – would not be possible without the contribution of the business sector to this initiative.

Tana Pothikamjorn, executive vice president and head of digital platform at SCB, said that to advance the bank on the path of what he called a full open bank, it was important to create a practical ecosystem.

SCB is confident that API access will propel SCB to full open bank status. Under the arrangement, system developers will be able to use the https:\developer.scb portal.

At present, providing technology services is conducted by seeking business partnerships to tap different customer groups. Providing access to an open API will enable developers, businesses, and companies to adopt SCB’s API to further develop their businesses and better align them with their business targets.

Tana said SCB’s open API will be able to cover new target groups more extensively, while enabling its partners to customise their products to more easily respond to customer demands with better products.

The open API, a channel to link applications to allow the exchange of data between different software platforms, will be a critical part in creating a digital economy ecosystem.

Leading firms in many countries have provided API access to share resources for independent developers for experimentation and learning that will lead to the research and development of financial products and services offering the best experience for customers.

To allow application developers to expand their application ideas, SCB is the first Thai bank to open its API to external developers by linking with its developer portal web for loan origination, payment, QR payment, sharing customer profiles and authentication, said Tana, adding that other services would be coming soon.

“Allowing API linkage for system developers will enable SCB to launch new products covering more industries, letting target customers access services more easily and quickly and let the bank reach broader target groups faster. This will help raise service standards through learning from their requirements and their real behaviour,” Tana said.

“Developers can access SCB’s API via the developer web portal, which will allow them to read documents and methods for linking their applications with SCB’s. The portal also provides SCB with simulator apps to allow application developers to conduct tests covering all scenarios instantly in a sandbox environment.”

The bank is holding an “Open Banking API Hackathon event by SCB”, offering opportunities for new generation application developers to freely link with the bank’s API.

Kaweewut Temphuwapat, head of SCB10X, said: “SCB10X understands the problems of users. We believe that many developers can provide solutions for daily financial problems and Thai developers are no less capable than those in other countries. It is the bank’s keen interest to create a venue for developers to help solve problems to better improve the quality of life. On the other hand, developers can prove themselves and demonstrate their capabilities.

“Therefore, the bank is allowing developers to make use of its open banking API to develop products. This is why we want developers to compete at the Open Banking Hackathon by SCB event to create solutions, which will be held from June 21-23 at the Nap Lab Chula.

“The event allows developers in any field or web/mobile application to compete.

“What SCB would like to see from the Open Banking Hackathon event is the dissemination of information to create mechanism for the future

of our country’s financial ecosystem using open banking API.”

The decision, in the midst of a US trade war with China, means that Huawei users will start losing access to Google’s proprietary services such as Gmail and Maps, and be shut out of future upgrades to Android on their phones.

The move by the California internet giant on the software front was compounded by news that US chipmakers have stopped supplying Huawei, hitting the hardware of its phones.

Many customers affected

Huawei sold nearly 203 million phones last year, up from 150 million in 2017, according to data tracking firm Gartner, overtaking Apple to threaten Samsung atop the global charts.

For the first quarter of 2019, before its recent run-in with President Donald Trump’s administration, Huawei sold 59 million handhelds, IDC calculated.

Those users risk losing access to important upgrades to Android released by Google in future, although for now Huawei said it would continue to provide security updates.

The Chinese company will only be able to access software patches and distribute them from Android’s open source project, not proprietary information retained by Google, meaning that apps on Huawei phones could become unusable.

No easy fix for Huawei

To get around the Google ban, Huawei would ultimately have to build its own operating system, as Apple has for its iPhones. That cannot be done in a hurry.

Microsoft offers a salutary example. Between 2010 and 2017, the US company tried to entice users to buy phones built on its own Windows mobile operating system. But the phones never took off and the company pulled the plug on the OS.

Huawei does have a big advantage over Microsoft, given the bigger scale of its mobile market penetration.

Software developers might feel compelled to offer a Huawei-specific version of their apps. Or the Chinese manufacturer could start a new branch of the Android family based on the open source version available now.

But that will all take time.

Risks for Google too

The widespread mobile usage of Maps, Gmail and Google’s other services has helped the US company build a market-leading position with Android alongside its crushing dominance in desktop browsing.

But in cutting off Huawei, Google risks being deprived of the revenue-generating data of all those phone owners around the world.

And other Chinese smartphone makers, such as Xiaomi, Oppo and OnePlus, will be watching closely.

Should Huawei build its own system, it’s conceivable that those companies might join it, in a bid to end their own vulnerability to future actions by the US government or companies.

Siwaporn Pengpol, head of the company’s video and broadcasting management unit, said it also offers a free TV broadcasting service.

The company’s mission is to establish AIS Play as the marketplace platform for the creation of a video-broadcasting ecosystem.

“We have created a platform for encouraging the the development of this ecosystem, and have not come in to be a rival to others,” said Siwaporn.

“Now, we play a role as a marketplace by providing support subscription and billing systems for partners. We have seven over-the-top-business partners.”

AIS Play service is available on set-top-box, AIS Play Box, and mobile application AIS Play App. AIS Play Box has around 50 per cent of the 900,000 AIS Fibre customers, while the AIS Play App has been around 9 million times, with 4 million active users.

Siwaporn said users spend around four to five hours a day watching content via AIS Play Box. And they spend an average of 15 minutes a day watching content via the AIS Play App.

Under the AIS Play service, the company offers free and paid models for video-on-demand and broadcasting content.

In the future, the company will provide an ad-video-on-demand model.

“We also have a plan to use artificial intelligence to handle content management system, such as for offering personalised services,” said Siwaporn.

The strength of its service, she said, owes to the wide range of content and packages.

It has over 100 TV channels, for free and paid offerings, as well as over 1,000 titles of on-demand content.

“The variety of content is our strength but on the other hand, it is also challenge because users cannot easily find the content they want,” said Siwaporn

“At this point, we plan to improve our content management system with AI.”

She said the company would also seek synergies for the AIS Play service with AIS’s other businesses. For example, it could offer product bundles with AIS Play and AIS Fibre, and with the AIS mobile service as well.

“The main challenge is to attract people to spend more time and stick with us as long as they can in a day,” said Siwaporn.

She said that the video and broadcasting business is a part of AIS’s digital services, including games, payment, cloud, and corporate solutions.

The company also plays a role in supporting the company’s mobile service business.

In the near future, the company will expand the AIS Play service on the website in order to attract users to those services based on the PC and smart TV.

“Our direction is to reach the mass market through all channels – set-top-box, mobile devices covering phones and tablets, PCs and smart TV.

“We will still retain the existing customers of AIS’s services, while acquiring new customers, and seeking the monetisation of potential revenue,” said Siwaporn.

“Such monetisation is one of our key areas of focus, but it is too early to commit to the goal. But this year, we will break even.”