True Corporation Public Company Limited is the most integrated communications solutions provider in Thailand, and one of the nation’s strongest brands.

Our vision is to be the leader in convergence lifestyle. Our mission is to bring knowledge, information, entertainment, and the ability to access each others’ values, to every household and the youth of Thailand as well as to create value for our organization, employees and shareholders. Our convergence lifestyle strategy differentiates us from other operators by providing a full range of communications solutions drawing on rich content to meet each customer’s lifestyle needs.

Backed by Asia’s largest agro-conglomerate, the Charoen Pokphand Group (“CP”), with a shareholding of 30.02% as of December 2007, True has expanded its business from being a fixed-line provider to a total communications solutions provider, offering consumers, small and medium enterprises, and corporations a full range of voice, video and data services in solutions customized to meet their needs.  We are Thailand’s largest provider of Internet, consumer broadband Internet and pay-TV services, as well as the largest fixed-line service provider in the BMA, a leading online game provider and the number three mobile phone operator in Thailand.

We operate five core businesses:

• Mobile phone business under TrueMove (formerly TA Orange);
• Online business under TrueOnline, which consists of fixed-line phone service and its value-added services, business data services, Internet and broadband Internet services and WE PCT (Personal Communication Telephone);
• Pay-TV business (under TrueVisions, formerly UBC);
• Digital commerce business under TrueMoney;
• Digital content business under TrueLife (as well as lifestyle venture True Coffee).

At the end of 2007, True Group had an annual turnover of Baht 61.61 billion (including interconnection charges) or Baht 51.79 billion (excluding IC), infrastructure investments of Baht 188.98 billion, registered and paid-up capital of Baht 45.032 billion, and 10,224 permanent staff.

History

True was incorporated in November 1990, and registered as a public limited company in 1993 under our former name, TelecomAsia Corporation Public Company Limited. We began trading on the Stock Exchange of Thailand in December 1993 with the security symbol “TA”. In April 2004, we rebranded under the ‘‘True’’ name and adopted the security symbol “TRUE”.

We received our first revenue from the operation of our wireline network in November 1992. We provide fixed-line phone services under a build-transfer-operate (BTO) concession with TOT Corporation Public Company Limited (TOT) to build, install, jointly operate and maintain a 2.6 million-line wireline network in the BMA for a period of 25 years, ending on October 2017.

We received additional approvals to provide value-added, public phone and other services, and launched our WE PCT service in 1999, hi-speed data transmission services including ADSL and cable modem in 2001, and Wi-Fi services in 2003. In 2007, after being granted licenses from the NTC, we launched international Internet gateway service and soft-launched international direct dialing service. 

In October 2001, we acquired a 41.1% equity interest in Bangkok Inter Teletech Public Company Limited (“BITCO”) (the parent company of TA Orange) expanding our business in the mobile sector. Full commercial launch of TA Orange’s mobile telecommunications service in Thailand took place in March 2002. TA Orange was rebranded TrueMove at the beginning of 2006.

TrueMove operates a digital mobile telecommunications network based on the GSM (Global System for Mobile telecommunications) standard in the 1800 MHz frequency under a BTO concession with CAT Telecom, which is due to end in September 2013.

We gradually increased our shareholding in BITCO until at the end of 2006 we owned 93.4 percent. In December 2007 a rights offering of BITCO shares to CP left True’s shareholding in BITCO at 75.3%, with CP owning 23.9%. True’s shareholding will increase to 98.6% if True purchases these shares from CP via options given by CP for an 18-month period from the rights offering.

In January 2006, True purchased shares in pay-TV operator UBC from MIH and completed the tender offer for UBC shares held by the public in March 2006, allowing True to own 91.8% (effective holding) of UBC. True started to fully consolidate UBC’s results into True Group from the first quarter of 2006. UBC was renamed TrueVisions at the beginning of 2007.

TrueVisions operates pay-TV services under a 25-year concession contract with the Mass Communications Organization of Thailand which is due to end on September 30, 2014 for services via satellite and on December 31, 2019 for services via cable.

From 2005 to 2007 True Group received licenses from the NTC to provide Internet service, Internet service via telephone or VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), public phone services, fixed-line phone services, international direct dialing and international Internet gateway services. We were also granted one-year trial licenses for International Private Leased Circuit (IPLC) and International Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network (IP VPN) as well as a six-month trial for WiMax