The Thai government has approved CAT Telecom’s plan to take full ownership of Hutchison CAT Wireless Multimedia (HCWM), its CDMA2000-based mobile joint venture with Hutchison Telecommunications International (HTIL).

The cabinet gave the green light to the state-owned telco’s proposal to buy out the Hong Kong-based firm for THB7.5 billion (USD233 million), taking full control of the ‘Hutch’ network covering 25 central provinces including the Bangkok metropolitan area. HCWM is currently 74%-owned by HTIL via Hutchison Wireless MultiMedia Holdings, with the other 26% held by CAT.

The deal includes the purchase of BFKT, a wholly owned subsidiary of HTIL, which currently leases the Hutch network to HCWM. CAT intends to take over the management of HCWM from HTIL and merge the unit with its wholly owned ‘CAT CDMA’ 2G/3G mobile network covering Thailand’s other 51 provinces, to create a seamless nationwide footprint.

The state-run operator has already rolled out 1xEV-DO technology across the CAT CDMA network and intends to implement similar upgrades on the Hutch network, which previously underwent a limited pre-commercial EV-DO deployment before HTIL suspended investments in Thailand in advance of exiting the market.

CAT president Jirayuth Roongsrithong said the deal would enable CAT to generate THB4 billion in revenues in the first year of operations and add 1.5 million Hutch customers once it merges its network in the other 51 provinces. He said CAT executives would go into detail with HTIL before signing and concluding the deal ‘within this year’.

Mr Jirayuth also confirmed CAT would rebrand Hutch and set up a new company to handle the business. He added that CAT’s long-term of target was to increase blended monthly average revenue per user (ARPU) from THB400 to THB700. All local Hutch employees will be transferred to CAT.

Source : Bangkok Post

Tags: CAT, CDMA, Hutch