Briand Greer, president of Honeywell Asean, said that the company is joining with around 40 local partners provide its solutions – including oil and gas, aerospace, home and building technologies – as well as safety and productivity solutions for the market.

The firm provides oil and gas solutions to support industries, such as with industrial automation control as well as oil gas process technology in order to improve companies’ efficiency. For the aerospace sector, the firm provides aerospace products that are used on virtually every commercial and defence aircraft platform, such as electronic solutions and transport systems.

With the home and building technologies, the company offers products, software and technologies that help customers control their comfort, security and energy use with technologies ranging from environmental and building controls to security and fire alarm systems and smart grid solutions.

For safety and productivity solutions, the company offers various solutions such as automation and material handing solutions as well as productivity products.

“Honeywell is developing solutions that support growing infrastructure and improve the quality of life for people and the middle class around world,” Greer said. “We also have solutions that support the middle class, which we expect will increase from 1.8 billion to almost 5 billion people by 2030. Our solutions such as voice control wireless sensors and connected warehouse will help customers be better, faster and more efficient. We hope to very successful in the Thai market.”

He said that the firm would continue to invest in people, “so that they will help to increase productivity as a whole and Thailand is potential growth market”.

The company expects that by the end of this year it would have generated growth in revenue that exceeds the rate of expansion in Thailand’s gross domestic product.

He said that the government’s Thailand 4.0 vision is transforming the country into a value-based and innovation-driven digital economy. Thailand is in a strategic position with the Asean trading system as well as the global trading system.

“Thailand is a key strategic market among our high-growth regions. We expect our growth rate in this market to be well above Thailand’s GDP growth over the next five years,” Greer said.

“Thailand’s GDP grew by 4 per cent in the last quarter of 2017 and should keep rising this year.”

Kematat Paladesh, president of MCOT Plc, said that since the commencement of digital broadcast in Thailand in 2014, traditional TV operators have continued to simulcast on both digital and analogue systems.

Since the current coverage of digital TV network has reached 95 per cent of the population, the switch-off should not affect TV viewing experiences.

After broadcasting in high-definition for some of time, the company said it was ready to switch off the analogue broadcast signal and move towards full digitisation of terrestrial TV broadcasting, in accordance with the Master Plan on Spectrum Management of the National Broadcast and Telecommunication Commission (the NBTC). Some other operators have already switched off their traditional analogue channels.

The switch-off of analogue broadcast signals transmitted from 36 relay stations covering 73 provinces nationwide has been divided into two stages. In the first stage, the analogue signals from 13 relay stations in Sra Kaeo, Sakon Nakhon, Petchabun, Nan, Mukdahan, Tak, Chumpon, Loei, Ranong, Satun, Mae Sariang Disctrict in Mae Hong Son, Mae Hong Son and Takua Pa District in Pang Nga were terminated on March 1.

The analogue signals from 23 relay stations in Bangkok, Nakorn Ratchasima, Sonkhla, Chiang Mai, Ubon Rachgatani, Rayong, Singh Buri, Surat Thani, Yala, Sukothai, Nakorn Sawan, Trang, Kon Kean, Trat, Phuket, Udonthani, Lampang, Phrae, Chiang Rai, Roi Et, Surin, Prachuap Khiri Khan and Nakorn Si Thammarat will be terminated at the second stage, on July 16.

During the switch-off process, a 24-hour call centre will be set up to assist the audiences who experience viewing difficulties on 9 MCOT HD and MCOT Family 14.

It is expected that after the switch-off, the company’s electricity costs will reduce by Bt24 million per year. As for the people in charge of analogue broadcasts, they will be trained to provide new engineering services to clients in the future.

As a premier software-industrial company, Honeywell is well positioned to contribute to the government’s “Thailand 4.0” vision, which focuses on transforming Thailand into a value-based and innovation-driven digital economy.

“Thailand is a key strategic market among our high-growth regions, which benefits from having ambitious industrial sectors that embrace innovation. We expect our growth rate in this market to be well above Thailand’s GDP [gross domestic product] growth over the next five years,” said Shane Tedjarati, president of Honeywell Global High Growth Regions.

For more than two decades, Honeywell has grown along with Thailand’s industrial sector, enhancing its infrastructure network and supporting its economic development, he said.

The company maintains a strong leadership position in providing high-quality home and building technologies, safety and productivity solutions, performance material technologies and aerospace products and systems to local customers as Thailand continues to develop a smarter, safer and more sustainable society, he added.

Manage

The new facility – its fourth in Bangkok – is ready to fully serve the public and private sectors, medium and large-sized businesses, and multinational firms, the company said on Tuesday.

Supparat Sivapetchranat Singhara Na Ayutthaya, general manager/chief technology and operations officer, said: “True IDC has taken the lead as the dominant player in the Thai market. In 2017, we earned 30-per-cent sales growth and we have clear strengths and advantages over our competitors.

“This includes our ability to provide a digital platform of certified data centres and world-class cloud services connected by Thailand’s largest internet network, supported by expertise in professional services.”

The launch of True IDC-East Bangna extends True IDC’s strategic location coverage to Bangkok’s Eastern business district from its existing data centres: True IDC-North Muangthong for northern Bangkok, and True IDC-Midtown Ratchada and True IDC-Midtown Pattanakarn for central Bangkok.

The first phase of True IDC-East Bangna is composed of 500 racks that are securely surrounded by 10 physical security layers to ensure a controlled and secure access to the world-class data centre facility, Supparat added.

mu Space is a Thai space technology start-up which aims to provide satellite services that are affordable, easy-to-install and offer widespread coverage.

By contracting capacity on SES satellites – SES-8 and SES-12 once it is launched – and using the Hughes JUPITER System, mu Space will be improving quality of life for Thai citizens by providing reliable and affordable satellite-based broadband for telecom providers and businesses in the Kingdom, the partner companies said.

According to Thailand’s telecom industry database, only 12 per cent or about 8.3 million of the country’s 69 million people currently have access to broadband.

“At mu Space, our mission is to deliver nationwide and reliable connectivity to everyone in Thailand in order to improve the quality of life of the local people. As such, we have been searching for the ideal partners to ensure that we can deliver reliable broadband services at the right price point.

“Together with the global experience of SES Networks and Hughes, we are confident of the high service quality that we will jointly deliver in Thailand,” said James Yenbamroong, founder and CEO at mu Space.

“In rural and underserved areas, satellite is the best solution for broadband access as it’s much more affordable and faster to deploy compared to land-based internet infrastructure,” said Imran Malik, vice president, Fixed Data, Asia-Pacific at SES Networks.

“We are honoured that mu Space has selected SES Networks as their partner of choice in bridging the digital divide in Thailand and are thrilled at the chance to empower Thai citizens with unlimited opportunities to improve their lives,” he added.

“In ex-urban and rural communities, terrestrial networks are difficult to roll out and costly, contrasted by the new generation of satellites and access technologies which bring affordable access to people anywhere cross continent-wide coverage areas,” said Ramesh Ramaswamy, senior vice president and general manager, International, at Hughes.

“We are excited that SES Networks has chosen our JUPITER System and look forward to working with them and mu Space to deliver on their mission of bringing broadband to everyone in Thailand,” he added.

The Thai Life Assurance Association expects the industry to grow 4-6 per cent in 2018, compared with 5.9 per cent in 2017.

It takes into account potentially lower premiums written due to the implementation of a new mortality table introduced by the insurance regulator.

Fitch believes the sector will see strong sales growth of unit-linked and annuity products, while ordinary products will remain the main growth driver, supported by a moderate insurance penetration rate that is opening up opportunities for selling higher-margin products and new customer acquisitions.

The transaction is valued at Bt1.038 million.

The company on Tuesday called it a first step in preparing for future expansion in the energy-storage system business.

NRT, a specialist in the design, manufacture and integration of lithium-ion batteries for automotive and energy storage system, was founded more than eight years ago.

Its plant in China has production capacity of 80 megawatt-hours and there are plans to expand into Japan, India, Southeast Asia and Europe.

Banpu Infinergy and NRT will together provide customers with high-quality technologies and equipment.

GGGI is an alliance founded by World Animal Protection in 2015, which is dedicated to tackling the problem of ghost fishing gear on a global scale.

GGGI’s participants include the fishing industry, the private sector, academia, governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. Every participant has a role to play to mitigate ghost gear locally, regionally and globally.

Thai Union’s participation in the GGGI reflects its commitment to combat marine plastic pollution, in line with SeaChange®, the company’s sustainability strategy to improve the entire global seafood industry.

“Ghost gear represents one of the biggest threats to animals in our oceans, significantly reducing fish stocks and entangling, injuring and killing millions of animals every year,” said Joel Baziuk, secretariat for the Global Ghost Gear Initiative.

“It is key for seafood industry leaders such as Thai Union to come together with NGOs, government and other stakeholders to improve the health of marine ecosystems, protect marine animals and safeguard human health and livelihoods.”

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that every year, approximately 8 million tons of plastic enters the ocean, most of it urban waste, particularly plastic litter and microplastics.

Trump issued an order barring the proposed mega-acquisition, saying there is credible evidence such a deal “threatens to impair the national security of the United States,” according to a White House statement.

The order came despite Broadcom’s assurances that it would complete its move to the United States by early April, ahead of a planned Qualcomm shareholder vote on the $117 billion deal — meaning any national security concerns were moot.

“Broadcom’s proposal to acquire Qualcomm has always been premised on the completion of Broadcom’s previously announced plan to redomicile,” the company said in a statement.

“In short, US national security concerns are not a risk to closing, as Broadcom never plans to acquire Qualcomm before it completes redomiciliation.”

The Treasury Department said in a letter over the weekend that Broadcom had violated a Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States order on three separate occasions by failing to give advance notice before taking actions such as filing takeover-related securities filings in the United States.

A CFIUS investigation of the proposed acquisition so far has “confirmed” national security concerns earlier identified by US officials, according to the letter.

Trump ordered Broadcom and Qualcomm to “immediately and permanently abandon the proposed takeover.”

The rival chip giants were told to notify CFIUS in writing that all aspects of the order had been followed.

“This deal was a bad idea from the start,” said analyst Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights and Strategy.

Broadcom shares closing the trading day up 3.5 percent to $262.84 and gaining slightly more in after-market trades.

Qualcomm shares sank 4.3 percent to $60.10 in after-market trades.

– Battling boards –

Qualcomm has been maneuvering for weeks to rebuff Broadcom’s unwanted advances, and had asked CFIUS to look into national security implications of a merger.

Concern over China’s potential influence, and rising US protectionist sentiment, hangs over an effort by California-based Qualcomm to repel a Singaporean firm’s hostile takeover bid.

Qualcomm rejected multiple Broadcom offers during weeks of parries and thrusts between the two firms since the proposed deal emerged in November.

The company, which makes most of the world’s microprocessors for smartphones, postponed until April 5 an annual shareholders’ meeting after secretly requesting a national security review of Broadcom’s bid.

CFIUS noted that a Broadcom-Qualcomm merger could weaken Qualcomm’s leadership in the field.

This would likely help Chinese competitors such as telecommunications firm Huawei, particularly in the emerging 5G blazing fast wireless internet, where a stronger China could present a national security issue.

While they are rival chip companies, Broadcom and Qualcomm are very different in their approaches to the market, according to Moorhead.

Qualcomm is known for mobile chip innovations that set industry standards, for example in new superfast 5G wireless connection technology, the analyst noted.

Meanwhile, he said Broadcom is adept at using intellectual property developed by others and making products at low cost, referring to them as “implementors.”

Moorhead likened the idea of merging the companies to mixing oil and water.

Mobile military

CFIUS likely had China concerns, possible Broadcom’s relationship with entities there or the fact that the only company other than Qualcomm investing heavily in long-term mobile chip research is China-based Huawei, the analyst speculated.

Along with self-driving cars, drones and robots relying on blazingly fast wireless data connections, such networks will also be relied on by the military.

“I’m a technology analyst, not a military analyst, but it makes sense to me that troops will be wirelessly connected in the air, on the water, and on the ground,” Moorhead said.

“There will be drones and robots.”

Broadcom’s initial offer was tinged by politics, coming just after the company’s chief executive, Hock Tan, appeared at the White House with Trump to announce plans to move the firm back to the United States from Singapore.

Because Broadcom is based in the Southeast Asian financial hub essentially for tax purposes, the US government’s “case is terribly misinformed” regarding a purchase of Qualcomm, said Stacy Rasgon, an analyst at market research firm Bernstein.

“I get the concerns about China taking our intellectual property etc… but I think they are misplaced in this specific case,” Rasgon told AFP in an earlier interview.

The move comes after AIS acquired shares in Rabbit LinePay under a Bt787 million deal aimed at expanding the customer base on the Rabbit platform.

The partners aim to gain 10 million Rabbit LinePay users within the next three years, supporting VGI’s vision of being an offline-to-online (O2O) service provider.

Nelson Leung, deputy chief executive officer of VGI, said the company was transitioning from being a pure media platform provider to an O2O solutions provider.

With Rabbit Group’s database of more 8.5 million customers, “VGI has good access to the target group with enhanced ability to offer a more direct and measurable media advertisement”.

Historical synergy

Leung said: “To further strengthen our business portfolio, VGI chose to join hands only with the No 1 partners on all platforms

“This will create a historical synergy between AIS and Rabbit LinePay. The significant partners are: Bangkok Mass Transit System Plc (BTS); Rabbit, Line Messenger with more than 45 million clients; AIS with more than 40 million subscribers on its telecommunication network; Kerry Express, a logistics provider for e-commerce business; and VGI.”

Leung said the collaboration will turn Rabbit LinePay into the No 1 e-payment service provider and help upgrade Thailand towards the goal of becoming a cashless society

“From all combined platforms, a completely unique pattern for consumers can be designed, such as visual awareness through every media (at BTS stations, MACO’s office billboards or inside the airport terminal); online engagement through Rabbit Group’s data; and, finally when consumers become aware and engaged on offline and online platforms, the conversion to payment can be done through our specific channels,” he said.

“This is a clear indication that the platform for exposure to advertisements has changed because at present, advertisements are embedded into every lifestyle move of the consumers.

“For VGI, we do not expect to earn just the income from fees on payments, this game-changing development will bring about the successful online payment services derived mainly from advertisements. We are optimistic that, with this combination of out-of-home and digital/online advertising platform together with all channels of payment that we have, VGI will soon become a world-class O2O solutions provider.

“Our revenue forecast for the 2018-19 and three-year business plan will be announced in May.”