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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/corporate/40021039

True-DTAC merger would undermine telecom market, Thai economy, says study by NBTC advisers

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2022

A merger between True Corporation and Total Access Communication (DTAC) would likely degrade market competition, raise prices and lower service levels due to a lack of competition, a study conducted by telecoms watchdog NBTC’s foreign advisers has found.

The study also said that it would be difficult to rectify the resulting lack of market competition by introducing new competitors after the merger.

The study on the impact of the proposed True-DTAC merger was done by UK-based SCF Associates Ltd for the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).

The telecoms regulator has dithered on whether to approve the proposed merger by Thailand’s second- and third-largest mobile network operators.

Last week, the Thailand Consumers Council urged the NBTC to make its decision on the planned merger strictly according to the law, without allowing capitalists to take advantage of the public and the market.

The adviser report, dated September 14, is the first of three prepared for the NBTC. A copy of the report was obtained by The Nation.

The study said that the merger would adversely affect competition in the Thai mobile market for data, voice and messaging, as well as the market for bundled services integrated with mobile connectivity, which characterises the country’s current and future mobile market.

Also, the study found that the resulting uncompetitive market condition due to the merger would be difficult to rectify by attempting to restore competition through the introduction of new operators.

“All potential remedies have difficulties, be they attempting to encourage a third new mobile network operator to enter, and/or introduction of a resilient and highly aggressive mobile virtual network operator wholesale market, or by forcefully managing pricing and service competition levels, via detailed regulatory reviews over many years,” the report said.

Repercussions on the Thai economy could be serious as “mobile is an essential ingredient of Thailand’s economic success”, the report said.

It pointed out that without vibrant competition, which attracts investments to a sector that drives many others, new mobile market development could be impaired with wider consequences.

“The Thai mobile market and associated communications offerings may become less attractive — thus, for instance, reducing FDI [foreign direct investment] generally,” the report said.

It cited cases from foreign mobile markets, such as the Philippines and Mexico, where a lack of competition led to higher prices and a shortage of new technologies and advanced services.

However, the report also stated that a decision on the merger of True and DTAC was a question requiring further analysis and ultimate conclusions could be drawn from the next phase of research.

“Such a direction would require the regulator to have suitable countervailing powers to halt industry concentration,” the report said.

The study examined the background to the proposed merger, expected impacts after the merger on barriers to entry and access to infrastructure, and conditions and measures that correspond to effects arising from the merger.

It was found that after a merger between two mobile network operators, access to the infrastructure needed to build a new business is “likely to be most difficult”. The study estimated that a new third network would need five to eight years to construct its infrastructure and become capable of gaining market share.

After the merger, it would “likely be most difficult” to restore competition, as remedies are not readily apparent, be they at the level of markets, infrastructure or regulatory oversight, the report concluded.

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/business/corporate/40021037

Indorama Ventures opens largest PET recycling plant in the Philippines

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2022

Indorama Ventures Pcl (IVL), a global sustainable chemical company, announced the official opening of its PETValue bottle-to-bottle recycling plant in the Philippines, in partnership with Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines—the bottling arm of Coca-Cola in the country.

The plant is IVL’s latest recycled PET facility. The venture builds on the global integrated petrochemicals company’s position as the world’s largest producer of recycled resin used in plastic beverage bottles.

PETValue Philippines, located in General Trias in Cavite Province south of Manila, is the country’s first food-grade, bottle-to-bottle recycling facility, and the largest in the Philippines.

It was built by IVL in partnership with Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines, Inc. in accord with The Coca-Cola Company’s ‘World Without Waste’ program to collect and recycle the equivalent of every bottle it sells by 2030.

As a result of the joint venture with Coca-Cola, IVL will recycle about 2 billion additional used PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic bottles in the Philippines every year and create about 200 new local jobs. The plant will wash and shred post-consumer bottles into flakes to produce recycled PET resin that is suitable for use in food-contact applications.
 

Managed under IVL’s regional business lead for Recycling Vertical Anivesh Tewari, PETValue brings together an experienced leadership team led by Site Manager Joel Potian, who has nearly three decades of manufacturing and chemical engineering expertise in the Philippines and Korea. He is supported by Aris Castillo as Chief Financial Officer, formerly from Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines with more than 10 years in supply chain finance and manufacturing.

 
Sanjay Ahuja, Executive President of Combined PET, Indorama Ventures, said, “PETValue is an important development for IVL, for our partner Coca-Cola, and for the Philippines community. IVL, as the largest producer of recycled PET resin, is bringing our global experience and know-how to grow capacity and recycle more bottles. This, together with our partner Coca-Cola’s powerful consumer footprint, represents significant potential for us, as purposeful companies, to close the loop on plastic bottle recycling and help resolve waste in the Philippines.”
 
IVL has already surpassed the half-way milestone towards meeting its 2025 target of increasing its recycling capacity to 750,000 tons per year.

The company is investing US$1.5 billion globally to expand recycling facilities and sustainable production, including a new ambition to reach post-consumer PET bale input of 1,500,000 tons per year by 2030.

PETValue will introduce the most advanced technology and infrastructure in the Philippines, helping to improve collection and recycling rates and prevent leakage into waterways. The new plant will encourage a more robust waste value chain to help address the growing post-consumer waste management problem in the Philippines.

The unique PET plastic used in soft drinks and water bottles is 100% recyclable and the most collected plastic packaging in the world. Global brands including Coca-Cola are using more recycled plastic in their bottles to close the loop and deliver a circular economy.

 
Yash Lohia, Chairman of ESG Council at Indorama Ventures, said, “By the end of this year we will have increased our recycling capacity to more than 375,000 tons. In 2021, we acquired a PET recycling plant in Texas and announced plans to build a new facility in Indonesia. In 2020, we signed a joint venture agreement with Coca-Cola to build a state-of-the-art recycling plant in the Philippines, which culminated in today’s announcement. In the same year, we also acquired recycling plants in Brazil and two in Poland. This is to be celebrated given the challenging pandemic environment. These seven plants will join a family of existing recycling sites in Alabama, Ireland, two in France and the Netherlands.”  

 
Gareth McGeown, President and CEO of Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines, Inc., said, “Sustainability is at the heart of who we are as a company, as evidenced by more than a century of Coca-Cola treating the Philippines as its home. We are extremely proud of PETValue Philippines and our partnership with Indorama Ventures, whose global expertise in recycling technologies will prove to be an asset to the Philippines’ collective goals for more sustainable practices and a truly circular economy for recyclable plastic packaging. It is through innovations like PETValue Philippines and the strong partnerships we’ve formed with like-minded entities like Indorama Ventures that Coca-Cola can continue serving Filipino communities for another hundred years.”