The firm's revenue decline was due to intense competition, AIS president Wichian Mektrakarn told reporters.

Revenue per minute has dropped to Bt1.73 on average from Bt1.75 last year, he said, while declining to comment on AIS's financial performance expected for this year, citing the changing competitive situation.

In last year's fourth quarter, AIS's average monthly revenue per user stood at Bt776 for post-paid service and Bt239 for prepaid service, down from Bt1,036 and Bt315 respectively in last year's first quarter.

Revenue last year was Bt91.428 billion, a fall of 1.2 per cent from Bt92.517 billion in 2005, while costs were up to Bt55.96 billion, from Bt54.2 billion the previous year.

Selling and administrative expenses rose 13.4 per cent to Bt11.421 billion from Bt10.067 billion in 2005 due to higher marketing, administrative and staff costs.

At year-end, AIS had 19.5 million subscribers, comprising 2.2 million post-paid and 17.3 million prepaid customers.

AIS also reported to the SET that its board had declared a final dividend of Bt3.30 a share, or Bt9.75 billion in total.

The company's statement also said the board had approved a plan to raise Bt12 billion via a bond issue or borrowings. Proceeds will be used for network expansion, debt repayment, bond refinancing and working capital.

AIS's stock closed unchanged yesterday at Bt75.