How Thaicom is Moving Ahead with "Connecting the Future" Strategy

Thaicom, one of Asia’s satellite operators, has released its operating results for Quarter 1 of 2015, recording a net profit of 540 million Baht – a 35.3 per cent increase when compared with results from the first quarter of 2014.

For the same period in 2015, consolidated revenue from the sale of goods and rendering of services totaled 3,074 million Baht, an increase of 229 million Baht (8.0 per cent) compared to 2,845 million Baht in Quarter 1 of 2014.

Suphajee Suthumpun, Chief Executive Officer at Thaicom, said: “The first quarter of 2015 has been another solid quarter for Thaicom and resulted in an operating profit (EBIT), mainly due to revenue growth from THAICOM-7 which has been generating income since November 2014. Our value-added services, for example, teleport services including tape playout and digital signal compression, and sales of satellite equipment to broadcasting satellite operators have also contributed to these results.”

The revenue growth achieved mainly came from Thaicom’s satellite, Internet services and media businesses, as well as efficient selling and administrative expense control. Thaicom will now move forward with its strategy for 2015, “Connecting the Future”, which will connect all key parts of the business. More HD channels will also be made available to Thaicom customers and further developments in UHD will be made throughout 2015.

“As we head further into 2015, the future and connecting our customers to it will be a key focus for us. Our sustained growth is fueled by new partnerships and acquisitions, allowing us to serve the individual needs of each customer more effectively and efficiently than ever before. Our long-term aim continues to be to realize ubiquitous connectivity through our technology and we are committed to taking every possible measure to achieve this,” Suphajee added.

In other areas of Thaicom’s operations, its Internet and media subsidiary, CS Loxinfo PLC (CSL) saw a continued increase in the number of subscribers for corporate leased lines and Internet Data Center (IDC), with a growth of 1 per cent and 4 per cent from the previous quarter, respectively. This was due to the growth of new customers and bandwidth usage for corporate customers.

DTV, Thaicom’s Direct to Home (DTH) operator, will focus on new products and services including “Digital Head-End” solutions for cable TV and IPTV operators, hotels, condominiums, and educational institutions, targeting customers who decide to upgrade from analog to digital, reducing their investment costs.

Lao Telecommunications Co., Ltd. (LTC), Thaicom’s telephone operation in the Lao PDR has successfully increased its mobile phone subscriber base, thus maintaining its leading market position with 47.48 per cent market share, up from 46.93 per cent at the end of 2014. Furthermore, the company could significantly increase the number of Internet subscribers, especially Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) Fixed Wireless subscribers.