TrueVisions, the country's leading pay-TV operator, has revived its internet protocol television (IPTV) business after the significant growth of online platform.
Group marketing director Sueksith Cholasuek said the company yesterday relaunched True TV, reviving its IPTV business as the internet has become increasingly important in people's daily lives.
"We've seen huge opportunities for IPTV as the country's broadband internet is improving in terms of speed and technological stability by the day, with more than 20 million Thais using broadband internet," he said.
The company is confident the relaunch of True TV will benefit its pay TV operation in the future as the online platform is growing to cover almost every part of Thailand.
TrueVisions initially launched True IPTV 6-7 years ago but failed at that time as internet connection speeds were too low and the internet signal coverage was not as good as it is today.
For True TV, its subscribers can watch TV through its WiFi-enabled set-top box, whose software was developed by ZTE Thailand Co.
The True TV box has TrueVisions' high-definition channels, including sports such as English Premier League and Toyota Thai Premier League.
It also offers more than 100 on-demand movies and over 80 selected entertainment programmes from the pay-TV platform such as True X-Zyte HD, True Music HD, True Inside HD, True Asian Series and True Thai Film.
Mr Sueksith said the introduction of True TV will not affect its pay TV business as it targets different customer groups.
"True TV won't cannibalise our existing pay TV business, but will instead help TrueVisions expand its customer base," he said.
Mr Sueksith said the rise of True TV will help eliminate many illegal broadband TV operators, which have no broadcasting signal stability.
If True TV is successful, TrueVisions will go on to develop a hybrid box to integrate its cable and satellite TV systems with internet TV, with an eye towards making True TV the best broadband internet service in the country.
The True TV box is sold for 2,990 baht and customers will not have to pay monthly fees or get a satellite dish or cable connection.
Last year, TrueVisions posted full-year revenue of 12.2 billion baht, increasing 1.8% from 2015. Some 65% of revenue came from its pay-TV business, boasting 3.9 million subscribers, while the rest came from events, concerts and roadshow activities.
Prior to the introduction of True TV, Advanced Info Service (AIS) flexed its IPTV muscles by introducing AIS Pay to broadcast premium content, especially VOD movies.
AIS earlier debuted what it called Thailand's sole broadcaster of Google Chromecast service.
Using a Chromecast device with a retail price of 1,490 baht, users can plug into their TV's HDMI port and connect to their internet network through a laptop, smartphone or tablet to stream their favourite movies through an app onto a big screen.
The introduction of AIS Pay and True TV are said to be changing the landscape of broadcasting competition, revive IPTV and posing new challenges to pay-TV operators.
Moreover, the battle over the video-on-demand market in Thailand is intensifying after the entry by AIS, the country's largest mobile phone operator.
But the presence of piracy will continue to dictate prices in the video-streaming markets of many countries including Thailand, hindering the industry's growth.