True president Supachai Chearavanont said the offer was part of efforts to entice customers to use all of True's services. "Synergy is our competitive advantage," he said.

True owns pay-television operator UBC True, cellular phone-service provider True Move and broadband Internet service True Internet. The group also includes the 7-Eleven chain of convenience stores.

United Broadcasting Corp was completely consolidated into the group in March and is now known as UBC True. The new package is called UBC True Move Free View and will be offered from tomorrow to the end of August.

For Bt300 a month, subscribers will receive 31 UBC channels plus one month's access to channels offered in the UBC Knowledge package.

True Move throws in a free mobile SIM card with a monthly Bt300 call bonus with the package.

The SIM allows subscribers to pay for the UBC True Move Free View package wirelessly, using True Money.

Subscribers can also sign up for UBC True's Knowledge or Silver television packages on a pay-per-view basis.

Supachai said the package needed 200,000 subscribers to break even.

UBC True chief commercial officer Ong-ard Prapakamol said the offer enabled UBC True to expand its viewer base upcountry. Only a small portion of the Kingdom's estimated 16 million households subscribe to a pay-television service.

UBC True hopes to double its current subscribers to 1 million next year. The target for this year is 650,000.

True Move wants 5.7 million mobile-phone subscribers, which would represent a 14-per-cent increase from the current 5 million.

Supachai said True Corp would see stronger revenue growth next year after successfully integrating its activities.

Telecom Reporters

The Nation