Where’s DTAC in this picture?
Well now, should we really be surprised that DTAC isn’t part of this latest roaming agreement with TOT plc? With the pressure that DTAC is unnecessarily placed under being called a “foreign company” which we all know it is as are several other multinationals corporations operating in Thailand.
DTAC has already essentially wiped out their retained earnings with its massive dividend, they’ve hardly invested in expanding their technology capabilities, what’s going to be the next step for Telenor? I wouldn’t even look at investing in their shares at today’s levels, the current price won’t have the necessary dividend yield to support it going forward and should DTAC need to expand into 3G further, the additional strain on its balance sheet will reduce further payouts.
See below for an extract from today’s paper:
TOT Plc expects to sign roaming agreements for 3G services with Advanced Info Service, True Move and CAT Telecom this month.
The state telecom enterprise aims to seal its network roaming deal with concessionaire Advanced Info Service (AIS) this week.
TOT’s initial plan is to rent 800 3G base stations from AIS for a monthly fee of 20,000 baht per base.
It also seeks to rent an additional 1,600 bases from True Move and another 800 bases from CAT Telecom under a rental budget of one billion baht.
Arnon Tubtiang, TOT’s chief executive, said the board had approved the co-sites plan under its 3G service expansion.