[Phone Cards & Calling Cards]
Cheap International CallingPre-paid popularity - prepaid phone cards in Thailand - Industry Overview
2007-10-04
The rise of pre-paid cellular services is creating a lucrative market for Thai operators.
The mobile telephony market in Thailand has grown rapidly in recent years and one of the major drivers behind this growth has been the introduction of prepaid services (PPS). Although PPS take-up has not been as high with Thai subscribers as it has in Europe, operators are nevertheless forecasting massive growth over the next few years.
The economic crisis which struck Asia in 1997 was particularly felt in Thailand and it had an obvious knock-on effect for the mobile market. For many Thais a mobile phone was a luxury they were forced to do without. The number of cellular subscriptions fell from around 2.3 million at the end of 1997 to 2.08 million a year later, and although growth has returned -- the number of customers reaching 2.6 million by end of 1999 and 3.7 million by end of 2000 -- it was a serious setback for the market. By April 2001, mobile penetration stood at just 7.5 per cent leaving much room for growth.
In the aftermath of the economic downturn, operators realised that the introduction of pre-paid packages would enable customers to retain their phone, even in the midst of financial difficulties. Operators benefit by being able to reach low-usage subscribers and they experience fewer problems with non-payment of bills. Consequently, the two largest service providers, Advanced Information Services (AIS) and Total Access Communications (TAC), both introduced pay-as-you-go packages in mid 1999 -- AIS under the name One-2-Call and TAC using the brand Dprompt. The introduction of prepaid services (PPS) has also allowed operators to target an as yet untapped market -- tourists and business travellers. The millions of people within these groups who visit the country each year are now able to rent a handset for the duration of their stay.
Market leader
AIS is currently Thailand's largest mobile operator with a total subscriber base of 2.62 million (May 2001) and a 55 per cent share of the market. The company opened its analogue NMT-900 network in October 1 990 and launched a digital GSM system four years later. As has been seen in many countries around the world, the introduction of digital cellular services has fuelled much of AIS' subscriber growth, and the company is confident that the popularity of pre-paid subscriptions on the GSM platform will continue to add to this.
AIS' One-2-Call service was launched on 1 July 1999, just before the rival service from TAC, and has since become Thailand's leading pre-paid package. At the end of 1999, it had attracted just 24,000 customers, but by the end of the following year this had risen to 355,000, and by mid May 2001 there were around 725,000 subscribers -- well ahead of the rival Dprompt service, which claimed 254,200 by the same date. According to Chaiwat Suttenon, project manager of AIS, the uptake was not unexpected. "The growth in pre-paid subscribers has not taken us by surprise, and we forecast that PPS subscriptions will continue to grow as prices are lowered."
Indeed, both AIS and TAC have launched a series of promotions designed to attract customers to their pay-as-you-go services. One-2-Call has reduced its per minute charges to Baht5.5 ([euro]0.14), which, although cheap by European standards, is still relatively expensive for the average Thai, and the company is therefore eager to continue to promote expansion by reducing fees even further. 'This is an exciting time for cellular operators in Thailand as they manoeuvre to capture subscribers,' Suttenon adds.
AIS is certainly planning for the future of its PPS. In October 2000, the operator initiated the first phase of the rollout of a new pre-paid platform, using an intelligent network (IN) system supplied by Chinese manufacturer Huawei Technologies. Huawei designed and installed an IN platform for AIS in under four months using its proprietary Tellin intelligent networking technology. On completion of the first stage of the rollout all existing One-2-Call subscribers were successfully transferred to the new system.
Phase two of the construction began in March 2001, with capacity being raised from 500,000 users to 1.2 million. A third phase is scheduled for completion this month, by which time AIS' pre-paid networks will be able to support 1.7 million customers. The Thai company says the speed of design and installation offered by fluawei hove allowed it the luxury of being able to upgrade its networks to keep up with demand, without the need to make a financial commitment to the project several years in advance. This is confirmed by Wang Shengli, vice-president, Huawei's Asia-Pacific division. "Operators want flexibility," he says. "The market is so volatile they want to be able to think relatively short-term and implementation times of just 60 days allow them to do this." AIS has already revealed that it is hoping to work with Huawei on the fourth phase of its expansion project.
Rival TACtics
AIS' major rival for mobile customers in Thailand is TAC, a company which includes Norwegian operator Telenor and Thai telecoms group United Communication Industry (UCOM) among its major shareholders. TAC is the country's second largest operator with around 1.83 million customers at the end of April 2001, 49 per cent of which are connected to its digital GSM network. The company expects 80-90 per cent of its remaining analogue subscribers to migrate to the digital service during the rest of 2001. In November 2000, TAC launched a mobile internet portal for subscribers with WAP enabled handsets under Telenor's international brand name Djuice.
Like AIS, TAC introduced its first prepaid phone cards package under the name Dprompt in July 1999 and managed to attract almost 26,000 customers to the new service by the end of that year. By late April 2001, the operator had increased its pre-paid subscriber base to more than 254,000, up from 230,500 a month earlier, and 168,000 at the end of March 2000. However, it has fallen way behind AIS in the race for pay-as-you-go subscribers and is still not satisfied with the take-up of non-contract subscriptions, which account for just 14 per cent of its total customer base.
In the first three months of 2001, just 20 per cent of new additions were to pre-paid packages and, although this figure is rising slowly, TAC is hoping that a series of promotions will help to speed the growth of the Dprompt offering. As well as introducing lower tariffs, the operator is hoping that a reduction in handset costs will boost the popularity of Dprompt packages.
PPS brought in just 5.6 per cent of TAC's total revenues in the first quarter of 2001, although this was up from 2.8 per cent in the previous three months. In the same period, the average monthly revenue per pre-paid user rose from Baht3O5 ([euro]7.85) to Baht467 ([euro]12.01); ARPU (average revenue per user) had actually fallen during the second half of 2000 due to a promotion on pre-paid packages (in other words international phone cards ) as part of which the operator reduced its tariffs. In early 2001, TAC announced that it had negotiated cheaper access charges for pre-paid calls with the state-owned concession holders -- the Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT) and the Telecommunications Organisation of Thailand (TOT).
TAC completed the first phase of a network expansion project in the first quarter of 2001 after installing almost 500 new base stations, the majority of which were outside the metropolitan Bangkok area in order to improve its nationwide coverage. By the end of March 2001, the company had 2,196 GSM-1800 and 1,159 AMPS-800 base stations. The second phase of the project will be carried out during the remainder of 2001, with a further 750 cell sites due to be added to the network.
The company launched a re-branding campaign in early 2001 to advertise DTAC, the new name for its digital service. The operator says that its GSM-1800 network covers 53 per cent of the population, and it expects this to reach 70 per cent by the end of 2001.
City phone strategy
Huawei Technologies has also been involved with the sister company of AIS, the much smaller GSM operator Digital Phone Company (DPC), which launched its first commercial services under the name Hello in May 1998. Huawei has recently completed the installation of DPC's GSM network in eastern Thailand around the cities of Pattaya and Chantaburi -- Nokia and Nortel Networks provided the operator's original infrastructure in Bangkok and western Thailand.
DPC, like AIS, includes Shinawatra Corp and Telekom Malaysia among its owners and is targeting subscribers in urban areas with its 'city phone' service. DPC is already negotiating with Huawei about the construction of the next phase of its networks, which it plans to extend to the major cities in the north of the country. By May 2001, the operator had over 1,000 base stations in operation, the majority of which were in the Bangkok metropolitan area, with a total capacity of some 1.1 million subscribers.
DPC is Thailand's third largest mobile operator and had attracted approximately 300,000 customers by May 2001, but with a major expansion under way it has set itself a target of one million customers by the end of the year. The operator is hoping that its policy of focussing on users in urban areas will help distinguish it from the country's two larger service providers, both of which have national coverage. According to Shannarong Sungvornyothin, associate director of DPC's engineering division, the operator is expecting its improved coverage in Thailand's cities to be attractive to its rivals. "We currently have a one-way roaming agreement with AIS which allows us access to their national network, but very soon we will offer seamless roaming between both networks, so that AIS can also utilise DPC's GSM network in urban areas."
While there are a number of smaller operators for DPC to contend with, including Taiwan Mobile and the government-backed TOT and CAT, these have only 150,000 or so subscribers between them. It seems, however, that more serious competition could be just around the corner.
Orange competition
The latest player to emerge onto the Thai mobile scene is CP Orange, a company backed by France Telecom's international mobile unit, Orange, and Thailand's Charoen Pokphand (CP) group. Although it has still to introduce a service, CP Orange's roots go back a long way. It was originally formed as Wireless Communications Services (WCS) and received a GSM-1800 licence in 1996, launching a commercial service in May 1997. Financial difficulties forced it to cease operations after less than a year, and transfer its 70,000 customers to TAC, from which it had leased network capacity. A saviour emerged in 2000 when CP agreed to acquire WCS, along with its GSM licence; it was not long before Orange had also climbed on board.
CP Orange is not being cautious about its goals; the operator is aiming to launch a service in early 2002 and take a third of the Thai mobile market within five years. According to co-chief executive, Richard Moat, 'Our mission is to become Thailand's premier communications company -- first for service, first for quality, first for innovation and first choice for consumers."
CP Orange is hoping to roll-out a nationwide network which will enable it to compete with AIS and TAC as quickly as possible. In May 2001, the company awarded a US$330 m ([euro]384 m) network construction contract to French equipment supplier Alcatel. The presence of an international heavyweight brand such as Orange is also expected to act as a lure to customers. Orange is already planning to provide free handsets for customers who take out a two-year subscription; a similar strategy has helped it to attract more than eleven million subscribers in the UK in the seven years since its launch. In addition, Orange has a great deal of experience in offering PPS via its. European subsidiaries, so will no doubt be hoping for success when it introduces a similar service in Thailand.
It seems certain that the mobile telephony market (especially Calling Cards ) will continue to grow rapidly over the next few years, as competition between operators and market liberalisation drives down call charges, subscription fees and handset costs. However, many observers agree that potentially the largest contributor to sustained growth will be the country's PPS. Whether or not they repeat the success they have encountered in Europe, where in countries like Italy over 80 per cent of customers have opted for pay-as-you-go packages, it appears that PPS in Thailand can look forward to a bright future.
Private label phone cards - What's Hot - drug chains begin to market store-brand telephone cards
2007-10-04
As drug chains continue to play up convenience, it s perhaps a no-brainer that they begin to market store-brand telephone cards.
Rite Aid and CVS, in partnerships with MCI, each have store-branded telephone calling cards, which both chains promoted aggressively this past holiday season. And now Walgreens has introduced its own calling cards in partnership with IDT Corp., a multinational carrier and telephone company.
The new Walgreens phone cards, launched last quarter, are being sold in $10, $20 and $40 denominations in all Walgreens stores.
Carol Hiveley, a spokeswoman for Walgreens, said the calling cards "provide an exceptional value to our customers." For $10, she noted, consumers get 100 minutes of phone time, 250 minutes for $20 and 600 minutes for $40.
The cards give chains a chance to generate incremental sales from shoppers already in their stores, as well as a store brand-specific new item to promote in their ads. And because price points reach as high as $40, the cards also give chains a chance to maximize their selling space because the phone cards can be merchandised compactly on a power-wing or simple clip-strip.
Turns, one Walgreens store manager said, are very much above average.
The cards a so make ideal traffic-builders during the holidays, when friends and families maintain greater contact. Both Rite Aid and CVS this past Christmas ran buy-one-get-one promotions for their calling cards. As an everyday value, Walgreens offers a 10 percent discount to refill its phone cards in its stores.
Prepaid Calling Card Solution targets service providers
2007-10-04
IP-based, prepaid service runs on BayPackets' Agility Platform and enables carriers to deploy voice and data services over circuit-switched, hybrid, or packet-based networks. SnowShore Media Server(TM) provides media processing for BayPackets platform. Service includes real-time call rating, support for mobile virtual network operators, branded announcements with customized web portal, multi-language and multi-currency support, and web-based self-provisioning.
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Comprehensive Solution Enables Service Providers to Quickly and Efficiently Deploy IP-based Prepaid Voice and Data Services
INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & EXPO, MIAMI, Feb. 23 - Brooktrout Technology, Inc., a leading supplier of media processing and call control products, and BayPackets, a provider of enhanced voice and data solutions for wireless, wireline and broadband operators, today announced that they have jointly developed a highly scalable IP-based network prepaid calling cards solution for service providers. The combined solution enables carriers to rapidly deploy revenue-generating prepaid calling card services over circuit-switched, hybrid or packet-based networks. BayPackets will be exhibiting its solutions at this week's INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & EXPO in booth #312.
The IP-based prepaid application runs on BayPackets' Agility Network Services Platform (NSP), which has been designed to scale to support millions of subscribers. Brooktrout's SnowShore Media Server(TM), an open carrier-class IP media server, provides media processing for the BayPackets platform. The Agility Prepaid application comes with a comprehensive feature set that enables service providers to quickly deploy a complete prepaid calling cards service that includes real-time call rating, support for mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), branded announcements with a customized web portal, multi-language and multi-currency support, and web-based self-provisioning.
"Though historically dominated by long distance calling cards , growth in the prepaid market has exploded in the last few years with new services and new business models," said Ken Epps, CEO of BayPackets. "The BayPackets/Brooktrout solution enables service providers -- including traditional carrier operators, prepaid specialists, MVNOs, and stored value card providers -- to quickly and cost-effectively launch new, flexible prepaid voice and data products over today's circuit-switched and packet-based networks."
"Brooktrout's partnership with BayPackets makes it possible for service providers to rapidly deliver exciting prepaid services by extending the capabilities of BayPackets' platform," said Eric Giler, president of Brooktrout. "Brooktrout is pleased to continue its leadership in enabling innovative revenue generating applications by partnering with companies like BayPackets."
"The prepaid market is shifting models and growing into new segments. In addition to penny-wise new Americans wanting to call families in their country of birth who have historically accounted for about half of the prepaid long distance card revenue, many new segments are discovering the advantages of prepaid products," said Judy Reed Smith, CEO of Atlantic-ACM. "The growth of the prepaid wireless products, the number of clever new mobile virtual network operators (MVNO), and the reach and speed of the stored value products give clues as to what is ahead for prepaid."
To learn more about the state of the prepaid market, short-term and long- term growth opportunities, and successful prepaid VoIP deployments, join Fierce VoIP, BayPackets and Brooktrout for a webinar entitled: "The New Prepaid Paradigm: VoIP, MVNOs and Stored Value Cards" on Thursday, March 3 at 1pmEST/10amPST. Prepaid industry expert, Dr. Judy Reed Smith, CEO of Atlantic-ACM, will be the host and moderator of the session.
BayPackets Agility Network Services Platform (NSP):
The BayPackets Agility NSP is an open, flexible service delivery platform that enables operators to rapidly generate new revenues and better retain customers through highly differentiated services and service bundles. This carrier-grade service delivery platform seamlessly operates on circuit- switched, packet-based or converged networks. In addition to applications such as Prepaid, Unified Messaging, Conferencing, Voice VPN, Advanced Toll Free, and others, BayPackets provides a complete Software Development Kit (SDK) with tools and resources to quickly build new services. The creation, deployment, and management of applications and their service logic are decoupled from the underlying network, enabling operators to deliver and administer multiple services on the same platform, all from a single point in their network.
Brooktrout's SnowShore Media Server:
Brooktrout's SnowShore Media Server is an open, carrier class media processing resource that can support a broad range of applications, from basic messaging and multiparty calling to prepaid services and network announcements. Because it is an open software architecture and uses small- footprint, industry-standard server platforms and standards-based IP protocols, the SnowShore Media Server can leverage the ongoing evolution of network architectures and processor technology to deliver a flexible media processing solution for next-generation IP applications.
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