Rivals Challenge MobiTel With Network Expansions
By Kay Kimsong
THE CAMBODIA DAILY
Attempting to unseat MobiTel-CamGSM from its position as Cambodia's mobile phone market leader, rivals Camshin, owned by Thailand's Shinawatra company, and Telecom Malaysia International (Cambodia) have announced substantial expansion plans.
TMIC, which now operates the 015 and 016 service, said Friday it will invest $50 million over the next year to upgrade its services, beginning with $15 million to increase its switch capacity to handle up to 400,000 subscribers. Earlier this year, Thailand's Samart Corporation sold its 49 percent stake in the company, giving Telecom Malaysia full ownership.
"We try to be number one or number two, so in order to reach number one or number two, we have to invest a lot of money," said Yusof Annuar Yaacob, CEO of Telecom Malaysia International.
Camshin, which operates the 011 service, also announced Friday it will spend $16 million to add 87 base stations to its 300-station network. The upgrade, to be carried out by Huawei of China, will boost 011's coverage area in Cambodia.
This month, Camshin launched the "Mfone" promotion to repackage its 011 services, and it will now also operate a new 005 international gateway, the company announced. Mfone allows users to transfer prepaid minutes between subscribers, a service MobiTel already offers.
Camshin claims to have 300,000 subscribers while TMIC says it had 187,000 subscribers in June. MobiTel, which has put its subscriber base much higher, declined to comment on Monday.
Camshin CEO Jiroj Srinamwong said the government has approved a series of a new Intemet-based international gateways, so Camshin rushed to set up its own 005 network.
The government owns the 001 telephone-to-telephone international gateway and MobiTel operates the similar 007 gateway. The government and AZ, through subsidiary 3Tel, have operated an Internet-based gateway on 008.
According to Camshin's Web site, by dialing 005 before the country code, callers can reach the US or UK, for example, for $0.73 a minute on a weekday compared to $0.98 a minute on the 001 or 007 gateways. These prices are the same as those being offered by 008.
The prices, however, are still much higher than the 100 riel ($0.03) per minute using VOIP programs such as Skype inside Phnom Penh internet cafes.
But those calls are illegal, said Cheim Sangva, Inspection Department Director at the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications.
"We allow the operation of VOIP international calls, which is good for poor people," he added.
MobiTel Chairman Kith Meng declined to comment on his competitors' plans Monday and General Manger David Spriggs could not be reached for comment.
(Additional reporting by Erik Wasson.)
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Pls. don't dial 007 to reach James of HM's service on MobiTel network.
TMIC, which now operates the 015 and 016 service, said Friday it will invest $50 million over the next year to upgrade its services, beginning with $15 million to increase its switch capacity to handle up to 400,000 subscribers. Earlier this year, Thailand's Samart Corporation sold its 49 percent stake in the company, giving Telecom Malaysia full ownership.
"We try to be number one or number two, so in order to reach number one or number two, we have to invest a lot of money," said Yusof Annuar Yaacob, CEO of Telecom Malaysia International.
Camshin, which operates the 011 service, also announced Friday it will spend $16 million to add 87 base stations to its 300-station network. The upgrade, to be carried out by Huawei of China, will boost 011's coverage area in Cambodia.
This month, Camshin launched the "Mfone" promotion to repackage its 011 services, and it will now also operate a new 005 international gateway, the company announced. Mfone allows users to transfer prepaid minutes between subscribers, a service MobiTel already offers.
Camshin claims to have 300,000 subscribers while TMIC says it had 187,000 subscribers in June. MobiTel, which has put its subscriber base much higher, declined to comment on Monday.
Camshin CEO Jiroj Srinamwong said the government has approved a series of a new Intemet-based international gateways, so Camshin rushed to set up its own 005 network.
The government owns the 001 telephone-to-telephone international gateway and MobiTel operates the similar 007 gateway. The government and AZ, through subsidiary 3Tel, have operated an Internet-based gateway on 008.
According to Camshin's Web site, by dialing 005 before the country code, callers can reach the US or UK, for example, for $0.73 a minute on a weekday compared to $0.98 a minute on the 001 or 007 gateways. These prices are the same as those being offered by 008.
The prices, however, are still much higher than the 100 riel ($0.03) per minute using VOIP programs such as Skype inside Phnom Penh internet cafes.
But those calls are illegal, said Cheim Sangva, Inspection Department Director at the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications.
"We allow the operation of VOIP international calls, which is good for poor people," he added.
MobiTel Chairman Kith Meng declined to comment on his competitors' plans Monday and General Manger David Spriggs could not be reached for comment.
(Additional reporting by Erik Wasson.)
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Pls. don't dial 007 to reach James of HM's service on MobiTel network.
2 comments:
The expansion of technology of using Mobile Phone is a good news for us,
but it's already bad news that the internet subscription is really expensive in comparison with the neighbouring countries
ILEGAL BUT ALLOW WHAT THE FUCK HE IS TALKING ABOUT, GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL OF HUN XEN?
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