TrueMove said China’s ICBC will provide a guarantee worth $1 billion
Thai telecom operator TrueMove confirmed it has secured financial funding to pay for spectrum in the 900 MHz band it obtained in an auction last year. The telco has to provide bank guarantees of nearly $2.14 billion for a 10-megahertz block of spectrum for the provision set to support LTE services.
The telco said funding will be provided by Chinese bank ICBC as well as Thai banks Kasiorn Bank, Siam Commercial Bank, Bangkok Bank, Krungthai Bank and Kiatnakin Bank. ICBC will issue a guarantee worth $1 billion.
TrueMove currently controls 15 megahertz of spectrum in the 2.1 GHz band, 15 megahertz in the 1800 MHz band, 10 megahertz in the 900 MHz band and 15 megahertz of spectrum in the 850 MHz band. The telco currently serves approximately 18 million mobile subscribers in Thailand.
True is the telecommunications arm of Thai conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group, which is controlled by billionaire Dhanin Chearavanont.
Telkom’s profits reach $1.17 billion in 2015
In other APAC news, Indonesia’s state-controlled telecom operator Telkom recorded a net profit of 14.5 trillion rupiah ($1.17 billion) for full 2015, climbing 6.7% compared to the previous year, mainly due to a solid growth experienced in the data segment.
The telco’s revenues totaled 102.5 trillion rupiah last year, up 14% year-on-year. Revenue from data, Internet and IT services grew 26% year-on-year to 47.8 trillion rupiah, while fixed and mobile telephony revenue expanded 5.6% for the year to 45 trillion rupiah.
The telco’s 2015 capital expenses reached 26.4 trillion rupiah, with most of the spending targeting expansion of the company’s LTE infrastructure, to deploy data centers and submarine cables. The telco said it deployed 18,000 mobile base stations across the Asian nation last year.
Telkom’s mobile arm Telkomsel last year launched LTE service, which is currently being offered through spectrum in the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands. Telkomsel ended last year with 152.6 million mobile subscribers, of which 149.1 million customers were prepaid.
