Chawapol Jariyaviroj, Motorola's country manager for Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, said that CDMA technology was used by leading global operators

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

CAT to spend B1.4bn on 3G
Published: 28/05/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: Business
CAT Telecom says it will spend an additional 1.4 billion baht to
expand its CDMA network that covers 51 provinces to provide third-
generation EVDO services.

Executive vice-president Viroj Toacharoenvanich said CAT needed to
invest more on its 3G services because it was considered a business
that will generate more income.

Initially about 800 million baht would be spent to expand base
stations to accommodate outdoor use, then the remaining 600 million
would be used on data service.

CAT hopes to have 500,000 users, up from 300,000 currently, and total
revenues of 1.3 billion baht, up from 600 million baht last year.

CAT, he said, would continue its close co-operation with business
allies Huawei, Alcatel, Motorola and CDG to expand the CDMA network to
boost the confidence of users.

Chawapol Jariyaviroj, Motorola's country manager for Thailand, Laos
and Cambodia, said that CDMA technology was used by leading global
operators such as China Telecom, KDDI, Verizon and Sprint with
combined users of more than 200 million. The technology is also
adaptable to interface with future wireless technologies.

The CDMA service in Thailand currently is split with one part covering
25 central provinces for Hutchison CAT Wireless Multimedia or Hutch.
This network is worth 40 billion baht and controlled by Hutchison's
wholly owned subsidiary BFKT and leased to Hutch.

The other is owned by CAT Telecom and covers 51 provinces. CAT
invested 7.2 billion baht to construct this network.
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