CAT Telecom has proposed a strategic alliance with the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) to set up a new telecom service using the authority's fibre-optic and power-line networks.

PEA governor Pracherd Sookkaew revealed CAT Telecom's approach yesterday, saying the two agencies would discuss the proposal soon.

CAT Telecom, which has only an international-call network, is in need of a domestic network to provide retail telecom services.

Yesterday, the National Telecom-munications Commission (NTC) officially granted the PEA a 20-year licence to offer network-leasing services, marking its entry into the telecom arena.

The authority's Bt3-billion fibre-optic network covers the country's provinces with 16,000 kilometres of cable. Out of a total of 24 fibre-optic cores in the main cable network, the PEA uses four to eight for internal communications between its business units.

Its low-voltage power lines, which run alongside the fibre-optic lines, provide electric current to 14 million homes, or 50 million people.

The PEA plans to launch its leasing service late next year. The services will include fibre-optic network leasing, fibre-to-home for high-speed Internet connections, Internet calling and videoconferencing.

Pracherd said the PEA would set up a subsidiary with capital of about Bt100 million to operate the telecom service.

The authority earned revenues of Bt250 billion last year from its electricity-supply service, as well as Bt30 million a month for allowing telecom operators to hang their fibre-optic lines on its poles.

The Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA) was the first electricity enterprise to clinch a network-leasing licence from the NTC last week.

The MEA plans to lease its fibre-optic network and low-voltage power lines to provide telecom services, including videoconferencing, Internet calling and broadband-Internet. Services will begin in next year's first quarter and are expected to generate Bt130 million in the first year.

The NTC's decision to grant licences to the PEA and the MEA followed an agreement last week between the Council for National Security, TOT, CAT Telecom and the Information and Communications Technology Ministry that set up a holding firm to manage the telecom networks of state telecom agencies and state electricity enterprises.

Usanee Mongkolporn

The Nation