Thai True Corp's mobile TA Orange Unit Renamed True Move

Telecommunications operator True Corp. announced yesterday its mobile phone unit TA Orange will be renamed True Move, and said it aims to garner a one-third market share this year.

The 100 million Baht rebranding campaign, which includes television and print media advertising, as well as the unit's stores and dealers, comes almost two years after France-based Orange S.A. in 2004 sold its controlling stake in the cellular operator to minority shareholder True, True President and Chief Executive Supachai Chearavanont told reporters Tuesday.

True Corp. was permitted to retain the use of the Orange brand for two years following Orange's withdrawal. "We are hoping to raise brand awareness this year, as a part of our aggressive marketing campaign to increase market share," said Supachai.

True has targeted a sharp increase in mobile phone net subscribers this year to 5.7 million, from 4.45 million at the end of last year. Supachai said True Move is aiming to capture a one-third share of the domestic market this year.

Analysts estimate that True Move has a current market share of around 15%. Leading cellphone service provider Advanced Info Service (AIS) has a 55% market share, while No. 2 player Total Access Communication (DTac) has around 30%, they said.

True Move was also apportioned two million new mobile phone numbers Monday by the National Telecommunications Commission, or NTC, increasing its total available numbers to 9.5 million. "We hope to be able to distribute all two million numbers by the end of the year as there is still shortage of available numbers, especially in Southern Thailand," Supachai said.

True Corp. said on Feb. 1 that it expects its revenue to rise to 60 billion Baht this year, from 53 billion Baht expected in 2005, on an increase in mobile phone subscribers and contributions from its subscriber-TV unit United Broadcasting Corp. (UBC). True Corp. is due to announce its 2005 earnings by the end of February.