Monthly Archives: February 2012

Twitter expands ad program to mobile users

Twitter said Tuesday it was expanding its advertising program to mobile users, the latest bid by the short-messaging service to boost its money-making efforts.

Twitter said Tuesday it was expanding its advertising program to mobile users, the latest bid by the short-messaging service to boost its money-making efforts.

The San Francisco-based company said users of Apple’s iPhone and Android devices would begin seeing “Promoted Tweets” in their timelines in the coming weeks.

Promoted tweets are sponsored messages from businesses or others and were introduced two years ago to Twitter.com.

But Twitter users are increasingly accessing the service using mobile devices and the company is seeking to ramp up its mobile revenue.

Twitter said promoted tweets will appear just once in a timeline on a mobile device and will only be displayed when they are relevant.

“Initially, a small number of users may see Promoted Tweets near the top of their timelines from brands they already follow,” Twitter said in a blog post.

Twitter also said that “Promoted Accounts” would feature on the iPhone and on Android handsets in the list of “Who to Follow” recommendations.

Twitter has enjoyed explosive growth since it was founded in 2006 but it is unclear how successful it has been in translating its popularity into profit.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/tech/computer/282150/twitter-expands-ad-program-to-mobile-users

News from the Bangkok Post

E-commerce easily

For sellers, just a few clicks with a little bit of information and pictures, then they can up and running, put their stuff out and sell. For buyers, it’s all about being able to find the things they are looking for hassle free.

“We make it easy for you as a seller to open up your products, sellers have something to sell, or find someone who wants your products. Dealfish connect these two groups of people as easy and flexible as possible,” said Tiwa York, Sanook Online managing director of e-commerce.

After running for over seven years, the company has now adjusted the model with its new Dealfish to better fit the behaviour of Thai people.

Dealfish.co.th is the locally focused person-to-person (P2P) community marketplace connecting buyers and sellers by location in Thailand. By leading with location-focused navigation, Dealfish is able to more accurately connect individuals to the things they are looking for while delivering a more targeted audience to people and businesses wanting to sell their goods and services.

“Someone who is in Lampang wants to sell a sofa, and of course the buyer wants to see the sofa, it’s easy if he is in Chiang Mai, but it doesn’t make sense to sell to a buyer in Had Yai,” said the managing director.

On the front page of dealfish.co.th, buyers can easily find products and services based on provinces and categories, including real estate, electronics, fashion, and more. The P2P marketplace is the step one of e-commerce, where the company has also expanded the market by leading visitors further to www.shopping.co.th. Tiwa said everyone had the same needs _ trust, ease and immediate. Buyers wanted abundance of choices, the right things at great deals, while sellers wanted a large audience, low fees, qualified leads and both parties prefer easy communication. “Here is the right place for individuals, and for SMEs that don’t have enough budget to advertise in a newspaper. This can be a channel for them, which is free. It makes it easy for them to reach buyers.”

Citing pest control service as an example of course customers want somebody in the area near them. In the past they might have to walk around their neighbourhood and found the service number at the post office or the air-con cleaning service which Tiwa said he loses their number every time he wanted to call them. “We bring this type of service online and this is very open marketplace for people to connect,” he said.

A handbag maker in Lampang who has a shop in the province and also offers products now has another channel to reach more buyers with the Dealfish site. A refrigerated truck business who offers services between Nong Kai and Laos could get more customers after it posts its details on the website.

Today there are some 4,000 active sellers on the website, the basic service is offered free of charge and the company will release “freemium” model with a service fee to the power sellers who want added value functionality in August or September.

Classified is a market, a destination on its own. Dealfish is about connecting buyers and sellers and we make it clear with value proposition. “We believe that it’s really just a platform for sanook, content is king, platform is queen. We need it to be relevant for consumers to access” said the managing director.

Dealfish has some 55,000 daily visitors, ranked the third in the market, and it aims to be number one by this year. E-commerce in Thailand is at a very early stage, there is no dominate player and this is where Sanook sees the opportunity. The company estimated that the value of the e-commerce market this year will increase by 50% over 2011.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/tech/computer/281958/e-commerce-easily

News from the Bangkok Post

CAT board to decide on True Move’s 3G fate

The board of CAT Telecom will review its controversial 3G contracts with True Corporation, the result of which will determine whether it would move forward with the cooperation or scrap the deals.

The revision will begin once the board receives the results of a fact-finding from management and operations heads, said a CAT board director.

The source sexpressed doubt that the state enterprise received anything in return from the contracts.

The source pointed out the clause that put CAT’s 850-megahertz frequency to exclusive use under the contracts.

This enables BFKT (Thailand), which owns Hutch mobile service, to procure cellular towers and signal system on CAT’s behalf to provide 3G service using the high-speed packet access technology (HSPA).

Concerns have been raised about how BFKT has exclusive control of the frequency and whether such grant breached Section 45 of the Frequency Allocation Act, as it does not have a business licence to provide network rental service.

Others question whether the contracts violated Section 46 of the same law.

That section prohibits licence holders including CAT and TOT Plc to grant the right to manage spectrum to other parties.

The True-CAT contracts are being probed by several state agencies including the Administrative Court, the Information and Communication Technology Ministry and the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission.

Terdsak Muenkaew, a CAT director, said all board members acknowledged the details of the deals from management.

“We are studying thoroughly again the contract details in order to come up with a conclusion,” he said.

Another board director said the True-CAT contracts, which was made in January 2011 under the Abhisit Vejjajiva government, allowed True to provide 3G service by upgrading its network into HSPA.

“The current ambiguity of our 3G deals caused more harm than good to CAT. We need to make a clear-cut decision whether to move forward or scrap the deals,” he said.

He added that the revision will begin when the new chief executive, Kittisak Sriprasert, takes the helm next month.

Mr Kittisak has been approved by the board to lead CAT, succeeding Jirayuth Rungsrithong, who resigned on Dec 15.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/telecom/280946/cat-board-to-decide-on-true-move-3g-fate

News from the Bangkok Post

 

Channel 3 to launch apps for programmes, fan club

The broadcaster of TV Channel 3 plans to develop mobile applications for its popular TV programmes to attract younger audiences and serve strong fan-club demand.

The move aims to tap the popularity of online media where companies set up new marketing channels to reach out to tech-savvy youth.

BEC World Plc, the channel’s operator, found 37.5% of 1,000 Bangkok respondents to its survey accessed the internet through smartphones such as the iPhone and BlackBerry, as well as tablets like the iPad.

The channel’s website My3Space.com, will therefore create and offer applications of its popular programmes such as Jaew and Phuying Thueng Phuying that can be viewed on the devices.

“We want to expand our TV programmes to reach the young-generation group. Apart from the apps, we have launched social networking games, and upgraded My3space.com to the second version,” said Adilfittree Sutjarreat, the project manager of the website.

The first version of My3Space.com is successful, attracting 200,000 to 300,000 visitors per month.

The second version and its apps aim to serve demand of Channel 3′s fan club.

Channel 3 has seen the importance of new media because it helps boost rating and popularity for its TV programmes.

“Other TV operators have seriously focused on developing their online media. I talked with many agencies and found above-the-line plans now need digital or new-media marketing. For example, Isuzu and Toyota each set a budget of 20-30 million baht for online media,” he said.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/telecom/281784/channel-3-to-launch-apps-for-programmes-fan-club

News from the Bangkok Post

AIS funds capacity expansion

Advanced Info Service (AIS), the country’s largest mobile operator, has allocated 8 billion baht in additional spending to almost double its 3G and 2G data network capacities this year.

The special budget will be used to increase the number of its 3G base stations on the 900-megahertz frequency from 1,900 now to 3,500 by June and to boost Edge and WiFi network capacity.

“The capacity expansion is expected to alleviate massive mobile data traffic congestion,” said Mark Chong Chin Kok, the chief operating officer.

He said more funding could be approved to install another 10,000 3G base stations if AIS sees enough demand for data traffic.

However, Mr Chong said AIS’s 3G service availability will be limited to the existing 17 provinces, where the company sees demand now.

“We will not expand our 3G network nationwide where demand does not actually exist,” he said.

Somchai Lertsutiwong, AIS’s executive vice-president for marketing, said the 3G network expansion could serve up to 5 million customers.

He also said if AIS obtains a licence to operate 3G service on the international standard 2100-MHz frequency, then its 3G strategy will be revised to one of creating demand concept instead of offering the service on an on-demand basis.

Mr Somchai said AIS’s 3G strategy is different from the company’s smaller rivals.

For example, third-ranked True actively pulls people into their customer base despite the fact that demand is still pending.

AIS had 33.5 million subscribers as of Dec 31 including 1.2 million 3G customers.

The company achieved revenue growth of 12% last year, outpacing overall telecom industry growth of 9%.

AIS expects its data usage volume to double this year, fuelled by the proliferation of smartphones and smart wireless devices.

To capitalise on the increased demand, AIS is providing a full song download application service, said Mr Somchai.

The marketing chief said a full concert-video streaming application and e-newspaper service would be introduced in March.

Mr Somchai also said 2012 would be a challenging year for the telecom industry, as well as a year of opportunity for the country, fuelled by the 3G licence auction and the government’s megaprojects including Smart Thailand.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/telecom/281138/ais-funds-capacity-expansion

News from the Bangkok Post

TOT to terminate U-Tel 3G base location contract

TOT Plc says it will terminate a contract with U-Tel Co after it failed to provide locations for third-generation (3G) base stations.

Chairman Panthep Chamrasromran said U-Tel, a United Communications subsidiary, did not provide 1,000 locations for the stations.

U-Tel has so far supplied only 600 locations, and the company said that it will no longer seek additional base station locations for TOT, said Mr Panthep.

“We’re scrapping the U-Tel contract,” said Mr Panthep.

U-Tel signed the contract with the previous TOT board, chaired by Areepong Poocha-oom.

The contract expired last year and was being extended until now.

Mr Panthep called U-Tel’s penalty rate unreasonable.

U-Tel pays a relatively low penalty for failing to provide locations for 3G base stations as scheduled, he said. But TOT has to pay high fees if it fails to deliver 3G base locations on time.

U-Tel signed a contract with TOT to provide indoor and outdoor locations for TOT’s 3G base stations. If it fails to supply a site as scheduled, U-Tel pays TOT 10,000 to 20,000 baht per instance.

TOT has to pay a fine 10 times higher to the SL Consortium, the contractor building 3G network nationwide, if it fails to deliver a 3G base location.

TOT has installed 1,980 3G base stations out of a target of 5,320. The state enterprise had planned to launch 3G commercial service by May.

Mr Panthep said TOT will talk with mobile operators to discuss a co-network strategy in order to move its 3G commercial service forward.

TOT will need to negotiate with the SL Consortium not to take any legal action on the delay, he said.

The SL Consortium has repeatedly warned TOT about its failure to comply with the terms of the contract.

TOT is the only Thai operator with a licence to provide commercial 3G mobile services on the international standard 2100-MHz frequency. AIS and DTAC use high-speed packet access technology.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/telecom/281759/tot-to-terminate-u-tel-3g-base-location-contract

News from the Bangkok Post

 

INET spends B100m on facelift

Internet Thailand Plc (INET), the SET-listed internet service provider, is spending 100 million baht to upgrade its disaster recovery back-up facility to serve increasing demand from companies at risk from political turmoil or renewed flooding.

The company expects the upgraded facility to raise its revenue by 25% to 500 million baht this year, said Wanchai Vachshewadumromg, senior vice-president for engineering of INET.

He said expansion of services is scheduled for April and is targeted to assist brokers and the insurance and manufacturing sectors.

Using cloud computing technology supplied by US-based VMware Inc, INET’s facility could reduce initial upfront investment for customers, initially requiring 20-30 million baht for construction of a backup data centre.

The company charges 600,000 baht per month to use the service under a pool IT infrastructure resource under VMware’s service provider programme.

Mr Wanchai said the company plans to invest at least 100 million baht per year over the next four years to expand recovery sites upcountry.

“We will invest in a third facility in the Science Park this year,” he added.

Shifting to data recovery from selling network and integrated services is part of INET’s new policy, he said.

Chawapol Jariyawiroj, the country manager of VMware for Thailand and Indochina, said 40% of Thai companies are planning cloud initiatives, the highest rate among the eight countries in Asia-Pacific, according to a recent report.

The report noted 32% of Thai companies already have cloud initiatives in place this year, up from 21% last year.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/telecom/282113/inet-spends-b100m-on-facelift

News from the Bangkok Post

Opportunities without borders

Rakuten of Japan, the world’s third-largest e-commerce marketplace, acquired a 67% stake in Tarad.com, a Thai online market in 2009. Second-ranked Living Social of the US took over Ensogo.com last year, and Groupon, the global market leader, set up a Thai representative office early this year.

Alibaba.com, China’s largest business-to-business e-commerce player, is also making inroads into the Thai market through a collaboration with the Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP).

Research conducted by JP Morgan forecast that global e-commerce transaction values will reach US$963 billion by 2013, up from $680 billion last year.

The compound growth rate of global e-commerce from 2010 to 2013 will be 19.4%, with Asia-Pacific showing the highest growth at 27.5%, compared with 13.2% in Europe and 12.4% in the US.

The anticipated intensified competition in the Thai market should provide a golden opportunity to two million small and medium-sized enterprises to export their products and services at a lower cost.

Jakkarin Permsin, secretary-general of the Thai eCommerce Association, said the entry of global e-commerce players and the higher number of internet users in Thailand from 30 million currently are expected to increase the country’s e-commerce market value by 30% this year, up from the average growth of 15-20% annually.

According to the National Statistical Office, Thailand’s e-commerce in 2010 was valued at 200 billion baht. Of the two million Thai SMEs, only 100,000 are doing business online.

Mr Jakkarin said Thailand needed to set up a dispute resolution centre, enabling people to file complaints and resolve disputes between consumer and merchants.

Even with the Consumer Protection law, no agency has been assigned to deal with the issue. “That’s why e-commerce could not grow faster. People lack trust and confidence.”

Brian Wong, vice-president for global supplier development of Alibaba.com, said since Thailand is an export-led economy, his company will set up the th.alibaba.com website for Thai suppliers to showcase their products to international buyers.

Alibaba recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the DITP to encourage Thai exporters to go online. The company is looking for a local bank partner to give its suppliers special interest rates.

Mr Wong said the company is using a sale partnership approach to expand business, with no plan to set up a local representative office here.

He said the formation of Asean Economic Community in 2015 is pushing SMEs to increase competitiveness by expanding their businesses online.

Alibaba’s model matches buyers and suppliers at a business-to-business level for free. But the company will charge $2,900 a year for gold membership.

As of Sept 30, 2011, Alibaba signed up 75 million buyers and suppliers, 50 million of whom came from China and 25 million international users. The company had 990,000 gold members.

The number of registered users in Thailand increased by 25% year-on-year since its inception in 2007. The top five best-selling products were: food and beverage, agriculture, apparel, automobiles and minerals. The US, India, China, Thailand and Malaysia were the top five buyers for Thai suppliers.

Pawoot Pongvitayapanu, the founder of Tarad.com, said the country’s e-commerce market this year will face fierce competition from global internet players. Competing on a global scale, the e-market operators have to expand their footprints through acquisitions, joint ventures or own investments.

As a key market in Asean with a growing number of internet users, Thailand is on the radar of these global players, he said.

Tarad.com leveraged Rakuten’s global network by helping Tarad.com merchants sell products to consumers in Japan. The company also co-operated with the DITP in selecting qualified suppliers to sell products at the tarad.com/export e-marketplace.

Mr Pawoot said Thai SMEs must prepare themselves to do business online to remain competitive.

Tom Srivorakul, a co-founder of Ensogo, said having Living Social as a partner provided a good opportunity for the company to expand into service businesses, particularly those in the hotel and travel sectors.

Google is another global internet player working with local partners to offer free websites and training, instead of providing an e-commerce platform.

The DITP of the Commerce Ministry is also promoting potential exporters to become members of its Thaitrade.com, a B2B marketplace.

Arada Fuangtong, head of the e-commerce group at the DITP which operates Thaitrade.com, said it spent 10 million baht to promote the online marketplace for export suppliers, especially of food, textile and garment, jewellery and lifestyle products.

The company aims to increase its membership base to 6,000 companies this year, plus 20,000 international buyers.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/telecom/282114/opportunities-without-borders

News from The Bangkok Post

Committee finds CAT-True 3G deals in breach of laws

A Senate investigative committee has found the 3G contracts between True Corporation and CAT Telecom are in violation of three telecommunications regulations.

In response to the finding, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) will set up a fact-finding committee to scrutinise the case.

A senator, who asked not to be named, said the senate investigative committee, chaired by Rosana Tositrakul, concluded that the True-CAT deals violated Section 46 of the 2010 Frequency Allocation Act, which clearly states that a radio frequency licence is an exclusive right awarded to a licensee and may not be transferred or assigned to others.

They were also in breach of the 2001 Telecom Business Act and the 1992 Public-Private Joint Venture Act, which requires that any public-private venture worth more than one billion baht must be scrutinised.

The senate committee also passed its findings to the National Anti-Corruption Commission for further probe. As well, the NACC set up its own sub-committee to investigate the deal, and is waiting for related agencies to provide more details.

The True-CAT agreements were also being probed by several state agencies including the Office of the Auditor General of Thailand, the Administrative Court, the Information and Communication Technology Ministry and the NBTC.

Thakorn Tantasit, the NBTC’s secretary, said the NBTC board agreed to set up a sub-committee to look into the contracts, focusing on the one where CAT reserves up to 80% of its 3G network capacity for exclusive use by True.

A conclusion is expected to be reached by mid-April.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/telecom/280067/committee-finds-cat-true-3g-deals-in-breach-of-laws

News from Bangkok Post

Sony cashing in on online music apps production

Sony Music is shifting its focus to produce its own online music applications for all internet-enabled devices in a bid to create a new revenue stream.

Sony Music’s Mr Paul says the company’s music applications can be accessed by any internetcapable device. The new revenue stream will account for at least half the total next year.

The move is an attempt to cash in on increasing demand for internet-enabled devices, said Paul Manatthaworn, the digital director at Sony Music Entertainment Operating (Thailand).

“Having our own music applications will eliminate our reliance on mobile operators’ call centre services. Our service margin will also increase, thanks to lower revenue-sharing with operators and application owners including Apple’s AppStore and Google’s Android,” said Mr Paul.

Sony Music plans to introduce a new on-demand streaming music service under the Music Unlimited campaign by the middle of next year.

Mr Paul said the company’s applications will allow customers to access music content easily via any wireless device.

Sony Music and its consumer electronic marketing arm Sony Thai recently integrated its music content with Sony’s electronic devices by introducing the i-hUMM TV service enabling Sony Bravia TVs to stream music videos onscreen. Smart TVs should also help it promote its music download service, he said.

Bundling its content with Sony devices will combine the group’s hardware and content strengths. The company plans to further customise its content for Sony tablets and PlayStations, said Mr Paul.

Sony Music is preparing to introduce a music application for Apple’s iOS next month.

“We expect our application download revenue to account for at least half of total revenue next year, fuelled by the lower cost of Android smartphones and the government’s One Tablet per Child scheme.”

Previously smartphone users could download music via mobile operators’ call centres. Sony Music shared half the application download charge with operators before, but with its own applications Sony only has to share 30%.

Sony Music expects to post fiscal revenue of 120 million baht this fiscal year ending March 31.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/telecom/280785/sony-cashing-in-on-online-music-apps-production

News from Bangkok Post