CAT to cut network leasing rates by 10%

Thai state-owned operator CAT Telecom will cut its wholesale 850-MHz network leasing prices by 10% to help the companies using the network under an MVNO model improve profit margins.

CAT plans to implement the price cuts by the end of the year, citing comments from president Col Sanpachai Huvanandana.

Several MVNOs had asked CAT to lower its rates to help reduce operating costs and help MVNOs struggling to compete stay above water.

But Sanpachai insisted that the rates are not too high, and that it is instead competitive pressures and low ARPUs that are leaving MVNOs finding it difficult to compete.

CAT currently has five companies providing 3G services on the operator’s 850-MHz network – TrueMove subsidiary Real Move, Samart i-Mobile, Penguin operating unit the White Space, 168 Communication and Data CDMA.

According to the report, Samart i-Mobile recently returned 300,000 mobile numbers to save rates on numbering fees after determining that the company can not profitably provide services due to a high network leasing cost. Thai mobile operators pay a fee of 1 baht ($0.029) per month per mobile number.