Postpaid or prepaid ?

Around 90% of mobile subscriptions in Thailand are prepaid. This seems to be a norm for the mobile markets in this region of the world. People just don't want to sign a long-term contract so that they can freely switch to a better price plan/promotion whenever they want. Also, some users find it easier to control their usage in pay-as-you-use fashion. And, from user's point of view, prepaid seems to be more affordable compared to postpaid. From operator's point of view, prepaid eliminates problems of debts and unpaid users. Besides, the advancement of technology makes the investment cost per subscriber for prepaid account cheaper or equal to that of postpaid account.

90% mobile penetration!

The 90% penetration is the figure reported by operators according to the SIM cards distributed in the market. It's worth noting that 90% mobile penetration does not necessarily mean 9 of 10 people possess mobile phones. We know that certain groups of population may not bother to carry a phone. Among these, they are infants, elderly people, those who are hearing impairment, the poors, monks, etc. For example, National Statistical Office (NSO) of Thailand reported 5.8 million (out of 65 million population) are of the age under 6 years old. From my guestimate, these groups of people may be summed up to a quite considerable number. Therefore, the addressable market for mobile phone may be only 70-80% of popoulation. So... how can we reach 90% penetration.

Introduction to mobile market in Thailand

Mobile subscriptions in Thailand exceeded 90% penetration in 2008. (Thailand's population is ~65 million.) All 3 major operators, AIS, DTAC, and True Move, offer GSM/GPRS services. AIS, the market leader, reported over 25 million subscriptions in Q2 2008 (45% market share). DTAC and True Move reported 17 million (30%) and 13 million (23%) subscriptions, respectively. Hutchison Thailand and Thai Mobile have a marginal market share of less than 3%. Hutchison Thailand offers CDMA2000 system while Thai Mobile offers GSM in 1900 MHz band.