Advanced Info Service

Advanced Info Service Public Company Limited
Company typePublic
SET: ADVANC
IndustryTelecommunications
Founded24 April 1986; 38 years ago (24 April 1986)[1]
FounderThaksin Shinawatra
HeadquartersPhaya Thai, Bangkok, Thailand[2]
Area served
Thailand
Key people
ProductsMobile network, Internet service provider, Internet TV
ServicesMobile telephony, Internet
RevenueIncrease 180.89 billion baht (2019)[3]
Increase 37.40 billion baht (2019)[3]
Increase 31.19 billion baht (2019)[3]
Total assetsDecrease 289.67 billion baht (2019)[3]
Total equityIncrease 69.39 billion baht (2019)[3]
Number of employees
10,586+ (2013)[4]
ParentIntouch Holdings
SubsidiariesTriple T Broadband (3BB)
JASIF (Jasmine Broadband Internet Infrastructure Fund) (19%)
Websitewww.ais.th/en/

Advanced Info Service Public Company Limited (AIS) is Thailand's largest GSM mobile phone operator with 39.87 million customers as of Q3 2016.[5][failed verification] Founded in April 1986, AIS started off as a computer rental business.[6] In October 1990, it launched analog 900 MHz mobile phone services with a 20-year monopoly concession from the Telephone Organization of Thailand (TOT), and later became the first company allowed to operate on the GSM-900 frequency.[7] It acquired Shinawatra Paging in June 1992.[citation needed]

The company is controlled by the Intouch Holdings (formerly Shin Corporation), headed by Temasek Holdings, a Singapore government-owned agency. AIS listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand on 5 November 1991 (1991-11-05).[8] As of 23 December 2011, Intouch holds 40.45 percent of the shares of the company and Singapore Telecommunications (also majority-held by Temasek) together with Thai Trust Fund and OCBC Nominees holds a 23.32 percent stake.[9][10][11]

Temasek bought the AIS brand through the 2006 acquisition of the Shin Corporation from ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.[12]

In February 2014, in a conflict between the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PRDC) and Shinawatra, the PDRC called for a boycott of AIS, wrongly believing it to be owned by the Shinawatra family.[13]

Subsidiaries

  • Advanced Contact Center Company Limited (ACC) – operate AIS Call Center 1175 and 1148
  • Advanced Datanetwork Communications Company Limited (ADC) – provide online data communication service via telephone lines under the name "Datanet", licensed by TOT
  • DataNetwork Solutions Company Limited (DNS) – provide online data communication service via telephone lines under the name "Datanet" in the provincial area
  • mPay – payment processing and e-wallet service

mPay

mPay, an AIS subsidiary, is a payment processor and one of Thailand's three major payment service providers.[14] Its partners include CIMB[15] and 2C2P.[16]

According to a 2014 article in The Nation, mPay has around 1.6 million registered users, of which roughly 1.2 million are end-users and 400,000 are mPay agents. 150,000 of mPay's end-users use the service monthly, spending on average 30,000 baht.[17] In November 2015, four million people in Thailand used mPay,[18] and in August 2013, mPay had around 700 merchant partners.[19]

Services and coverage

As of August 2019, AIS is the largest network in Thailand, with 40.1 million subscribers.[20] In addition to post pay services, AIS offers prepaid services under the 1-2-Call brand.

Currently (2020) data is sold in time-based, volume-based and unlimited packages.

AIS operates 2G, 3G WCDMA/HSPA+, LTE, 5G NR, NB-IoT, and eMTC networks.

Frequencies used by AIS's Network in Thailand
Frequency Frequency
band		 Frequency
width
(MHz)		 Generation Radio interface Notes
700 MHz 28/n28 15 4G & 5G LTE & NR
900 MHz 5 2G GSM/GPRS/EDGE
900 MHz 8 10 3G UMTS/HSPA
900 MHz 8 10 4G LTE
1800 MHz 3 20 4G LTE (main frequency)
2100 MHz 1 10 3G UMTS/HSPA
2100 MHz 1 20 4G LTE
2600 MHz 41/n41 100 (TDD) 4G & 5G LTE & NR dynamic spectrum sharing
26 GHz n258 1200 5G NR

Wi-Fi hotspots

AIS owns and operates more than 100,000 Wi-Fi hotspots under the name "AIS SUPER WIFI."

Next G

In 2017 AIS announced it has teamed up with Samsung Electronics to combine Wi-Fi and LTE in a gigabit-speed mobile service called AIS Next G. The new network is estimated to be 15 times faster than the existing LTE and four times faster than the tri-band LTE-A, the fastest wireless network currently available in Thailand.

AIS Play

AIS Play was launched on 1 February 2017, serving as Thai's first OTT platform with 4K resolution and VOD, which featured AIS Play Originals (most of which are Boys Love series, such as Oh! My Sunshine Night, I'm Tee, Me Too, War of Y, Not Me and even Thai adaptation of Love Stage!!).

There are over 100 free-to-air channels, including some local channels, available to stream. There's also premium channels included with their Play Premium or Play Premium Plus subscription, such as HBO Asia, Discovery Channel Asia, Bein Sports, Nickelodeon, etc. They also provide streaming app, such as Disney+ Hotstar, Netflix, Prime Video, Viu, WeTV, iQiyi and many more.

In 2021, AIS partnered with Thai League 1, Thailand's top-tier football league, to broadcast their matches through their AIS Play application. The deal covered the whole 2021–2022 season and also included matches played in Thai League 2 and Thai League 3. Additionally, the Thai FA CUP was also broadcast on AIS Play.

References

  1. ^ Advanced Info Service (2010). Annual Registration Statements 2009 (PDF) (in Thai). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
  2. ^ "Contact us". Advanced Info Service PLC. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e "ADVANC: ADVANCED INFO SERVICE PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED: Financial data" (PDF). AIS. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  4. ^ Staff & Human Resource Development Archived 20 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine Investor Site – AIS
  5. ^ Sirivish Toomgum (September 2011). "AIS to double 3G users". The Nation. Archived from the original on 8 June 2013. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  6. ^ Job TopGun,[1] Archived 13 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Advanced Info Service PLC
  7. ^ AIS corporate website, click on "About AIS", "Company profile", and then "1990"[additional citation(s) needed]
  8. ^ "ADVANC Company Profile". Stock Exchange of Thailand. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
  9. ^ "Page 42 – Shareholding structure – AIS 2011 Annual Report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 May 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
  10. ^ "Shin to sell more of AIS to Singtel". The Nation. Archived from the original on 8 June 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
  11. ^ "ADVANC Major Shareholder". Stock Exchange of Thailand. Archived from the original on 1 March 2010. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
  12. ^ "Thaksin helps himself". The Economist. 26 January 2006. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  13. ^ "PDRC targets Shinawatra interests". Bangkok Post. 19 February 2014. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  14. ^ "E-wallet key service as True Money eyes 15% growth". The Nation. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  15. ^ "CIMB Thai to use mPay for its Beat Savings mobile service". The Nation. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  16. ^ "unk". 2C2P. Retrieved 20 September 2016.[not specific enough to verify]
  17. ^ Pornwasin, Asina (18 March 2014). "Cashing in on a cashless society". The Nation. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  18. ^ "Mobile networks team up for e-payment". Bangkok Post. 3 September 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  19. ^ "Opening the electronic wallet". Bangkok Post. 19 August 2013. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  20. ^ "DTAC Slow Plays 3g Roll Out". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 15 March 2013.