Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Optical Fiber Bangkok

Fibre to the Home kicked off its commercial broadband-Internet-access service via direct-to-home fibre-optic linkage yesterday as part of its drive to be the choice of high-end users.

CEO Kobsak Chinawongwatana said the company had tapped mainly corporate users.

It has leased the network of the Metropolitan Electricity Authority and its own network to provide the service, which initially covers only Bangkok.

Apart from providing Internet access, the service is bundled with video- ondemand content and Internet calling service.

Despite intense competition from conventional broadband Internet service providers, Kobsak is confident it will not be difficult for the company to build up the market.

It expects to sign up 30,000 subscribers this year before reaching 200,000 within the next three years.

The company wants to reach break-even period in the next eight years after already spending about Bt800 million on the network roll-out and equipment installation.

TOT is another company exploring the business opportunity of providing broadband access via a direct-to-home fibre optic network. It is set to launch the service in Phuket this year.

There are around 1 million broadband Internet users in Thailand, which has a population of about 65 million.

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