Despite having only a few loyal customers, Thai telecom operators are hopeful that their fledgling Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) service will soon be the flagship service of the future.

True Corp Plc's director and general manager for broadband broadcast and multimedia, Paisit Vatjanapagorn, said that IPTV was the latest choice for broadband Internet subscribers and was the future of entertainment.

The technology enables broadband Internet subscribers to access television programmes and an extensive library of video-on-demand content via the Internet protocol network. They can do this by personal computer or a television aided by a set-top box. The key lies in its interactivity, which can be deployed to offer new kinds of services to the viewers.

Thailand's IPTV harbingers include telecom operator True

and Advanced Datanetwork Communication (ADC), while TT&T Plc plans to enter the market early next year.

"It's a quickly developing global trend in the telecom sector. We don't have to diversify to do it but can offer the service on the existing facilities," said Prasitchai Kritsanayunyong, TT&T's vice president for finance.

Unlike pay-television service, IPTV subscribers can select one or many of their favourite channels and pay a monthly fee for only what they view, but they will have to pay a one-time charge for the modem and the set-top box.

Paisit of True said that True IPTV was shooting for 300,000 IPTV subscribers within the next 18 months, a jump from the current 1,000. While the target sounds ambitious, he predicted that the service would repeat the success of True's broadband Internet service.

True has around 400,000 broadband Internet subscribers, compared to only a thousand three years ago. True's IPTV service, commercially launched in May, is aimed at maximising the synergy between the businesses in its group, ranging from fixed-telephone to cellular and Internet access services. But its IPTV service will only cover the Bangkok metropolitan area.

Currently True IPTV provides more than 10 channels, ranging from entertainment to news. Paisit said that True's server had a capacity to host a great number of programmes, which, when combined together, will run for one thousand hours.

Also in the offing is an interactive shopping channel. Viewers can order products online, supplied to the channel by True's e-commerce homepage Weloveshopping.com. Once the order is placed, True's delivery unit will send the products to a customer's doorstep.

Paisit said that in some countries such as Hong Kong, IPTV viewers could also reserve movie tickets and select their seats from home.

Since IPTV allows subscribers to select individual channels for a minimum amount, one subscriber of True's pay television operator - True UBC, said that she might disconnect her UBC service and opt for True IPTV service for just one international news channel.

Paisit said True UBC and IPTV targeted different segments. While the IPTV has a niche market - those looking for specific content - True UBC is a mass-market service. For instance, "unlike True UBC, True IPTV does not have a soccer channel," he said.

Suroj Lamsam, a TT&T executive, said that TT&T would cash in on its existing 100,000 broadband Internet users to develop the IPTV market. Its subsidiary, Triple T Broadband, is spending Bt6 billion on developing a network across Thailand, for voice and data services and bundled voice, broadband Internet, and IPTV services.

TT&T aims to add another 200,000 broadband Internet customers over the next year.

"The service is slated to grow but that can only happen once the broadband Internet subscription base is expanded and potential customers feel that they will have more content from IPTV than watching free TV," Prasitchai of TT&T said.

Sirivish Toomgum

The Nation