Mobile leader Advanced Info Service Plc (AIS) is boosting its fourth-generation (4G) customer base in the provinces as it seeks to drive data revenue from low-end users.
The country's largest mobile operator is offering a low-cost 4G smartphone priced at 1,990 baht to draw customers in upcountry markets to its 4G services.
"We aim to have at least 10 million 4G subscribers by year-end, up from 6 million as of March 31," said Titipong Khiewpaisal, AIS's senior vice-president for marketing.
"We believe we can achieve the target this year thanks to the availability of our own-brand smartphones that are helping us to expand our customer base in the provinces."
Mr Titipong said up to 70% of AIS' smartphones sales came from the provinces, a key component in the company's strategy to boost its 4G subscriber base.
AIS yesterday rolled out its new 4G smartphones that support the Voice over LTE (long-term evolution) system that provides high-speed data.
Customers who buy the handsets priced at 1,990 baht will get free phone calls and internet services worth the same as the handset price.
Mr Titipong said he believes other mobile operators are trying to introduce such Voice over LTE handsets to compete with AIS over the next few months.
"It will be useless if mobile operators' latest 4G networks cover the country's population but they cannot increase the number of users owning handsets with the latest technologies," he said.
AIS has a 42% share of Thailand's smartphone sales at prices ranging from 2,000 to 3,000 baht apiece.
Mr Titipong said operators' own smartphone brands would continue to dominate the country's feature phone market, especially phones priced between 2,000 and 3,000 baht that represent the biggest product segment of the local smartphone market.
AIS currently sells 300,000 AIS smartphones per month, and expects the figure to increase by 10% after the launch of the new handset models.
