Loxley has joined the list of suitors to help Thailand’s state-owned telco TOT develop its underutilized 3G 2.1-GHz network.
TOT was the first to launch a 3G network in Thailand on the 2.1-GHz band on 3 December 2010 but it has since failed to develop its rudimentary network and many of its MVNOs have since dropped out due to lack of coverage and capacity.
Loxley was one of TOT’s first MVNOs and joins 900-MHz concessionaire AIS and Mobile LTE in the race to become TOT’s partner and gain access to the lucrative 15-MHz slice of spectrum that TOT was allocated for free.
Loxley SE-VP Vasant Chartikavanij said that he expects the network upgrade to cost around $426 million (15 billion Baht) and has promised TOT a 20% cut if selected. TOT is expected to make a decision for a partner by the end of the month.
Meanwhile TOT has announced an early retirement program that is expected to cut its payroll from 16,500 down to 10,000 as part of a cost saving measure.
The state telco’s employees will receive up to 40 months severance though those one and two years from mandatory retirement will receive severance of 36 and 28 months. Currently, the average TOT employee is 47 years old and has a salary of $1,522 (50,000 baht) a month.
Wages account for 30% of TOT’s expenses, or $426 million (14 billion baht) a year.