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To: John Biddle who wrote (31907)	1/30/2003 6:32:21 PM
From: John Biddle	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 197001

CDMA 2000 1X PROJECT: CAT ‘undeterred by cost concerns’ Published on Jan 31, 2003 nationmultimedia.com The Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT) has this week indicated its intention to the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Ministry to go ahead with its investment in the provincial Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) 2000 1x mobilephone project. A CAT source said the state agency had recently informed ICT Minister Surapong Suebwonglee of its plans. But Surapong said on Tuesday that he had yet to see a letter from the agency informing him of its intentions. Earlier this month, after learning about the huge investment cost, Surapong asked the CAT to put the project on hold to review its commercial viability. A consortium led by Realtime won the bid from the CAT to install the CDMA 2000 1x network in the provinces, quoting a price of over Bt30 billion – far exceeding the CAT’s original budget of Bt16 billion. “The project is aimed at being our new strategic flagship in the postprivatisation era in addition to our existing overseas call business, so how can we give it up midway through?” the CAT source said. CDMA 2000 1x technology enables highspeed data transmission on mobile phones, and is a rival to the globally predominant GSM technology. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has, however, referred to CDMA technology as “dead wood”. The CAT source said the agency knew that there had been many external attempts to delay the project as it would be a formidable rival for the incumbent telecom firms. The provincial CDMA 2000 1x network will be connected with a similar network in the central part of Thailand owned by HutchisonCAT Wireless Multimedia, to allow the latter to provide a countrywide service. HutchisonCAT, the first CDMAbased cellphone service provider in Thailand, is a joint venture of the CAT and Hong Kong telecom firm Hutchison Telecom. The company is expected to make an official debut this quarter, targeting highend users. Telecom Reporters The Nation