True Corporation

True Corporation Public Company Limited (TRUE) is a communications conglomerate in Thailand. True controls Thailand's largest cable TV provider, TrueVisions,[3] Thailand's largest internet service provider True Internet and one of Thailand's largest mobile operators, TrueMove H, which is second only to AIS having surpassed Dtac in January 2017.[4] As of August 2014, True, along with True Telecommunications Growth Infrastructure Fund, had a combined market capitalization of US$10 billion. TrueMove is also a partner of Vodafone Group.[5] True is a subsidiary of Charoen Pokphand Group, which holds 50% of True's shares as of March 2017.[6] It operates fixed-line (as a concessionaire of TOT), wireless, cable TV, IPTV and broadband services.

True Corporation
TypePublic
SET: TRUE
IndustryTelecommunication
Consumer electronics
Founded13 November 1990 (1990-11-13)[1]
Headquarters
Huai Khwang, Bangkok
,
Thailand
Area served
Thailand
Key people
Suphachai Chearavanont, CEO
ProductsMobile phone
Smartphones
Set-top box
Tablet computer
ServicesCable television, Mobile, Internet
Revenue 140.94 billion baht (2019)[2]
7.1 billion baht (2019)[2]
5.64 billion baht (2019)[2]
Total assets 523.99 billion baht (2016)[2]
Total equity 126.02 billion baht (2019)[2]
Number of employees
23,000
ParentCharoen Pokphand Group
Subsidiariessee Subsidiaries
Websitewww.truecorp.co.th

History

True Corporation was established on 13 November 1990 as TelecomAsia.[7] The company had partnership with Verizon.[7] The company was listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand on 22 December 1993 (1993-12-22).[8] In 2001, TelecomAsia set up mobile phone subsidiary TA Orange with Orange SA. Orange sold off its stake in 2003 but the Orange brand was used until 2006.[9]

In an effort to converge TelecomAsia's telecommunication business into a single brand, the company renamed itself to True Corporation in 2004,[10] and streamlined its operations with subsidiaries Asia Infonet (renamed True Internet) and Orange (renamed True Move in 2006[11]).

In 2005, True took a higher stake in UBC, Thailand's largest cable television provider that time, and renamed the company to UBC-True.[12] On 24 January 2007 UBC-True was renamed TrueVisions.

On 8 May 2013, TrueMove H became Thailand's first mobile operator to provide 4G LTE commercial service on the 2100 MHz bandwidth.[13]

On 11 September 2014, it was announced that China Mobile agreed to purchase 18 percent of its shares for US$881 million.[14][15]

On 13 November 2014, Truemove H announced that it allocated 10 billion baht to expand its 4G LTE network in Thailand to cover 80 percent of the country's population.[16]

In June 2015 Suphachai Chearavanont, True's President and CEO, was presented with the "2015 Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific Telecom CEO of the Year" award in Singapore for his leadership and achievements in developing the telecommunications industry in the Asia Pacific region. In the same month, Chearavanont was elected president of The Telecommunications Association of Thailand.

Subsidiaries

True Corporation includes the following subsidiaries:[17]

  • TrueMobile (Mobile telecommunication)
    • True Move Co., Ltd.
    • Real Move Co., Ltd.
    • True Move H Universal Communication Co., Ltd.
    • BFKT (Thailand) Limited
  • TrueOnline (Broadband/fixed line business)
    • Asia Infonet Co., Ltd.
    • Asia Wireless Communication Co., Ltd.
    • KSC Commercial Internet Co., Ltd.
    • MKSC World Dot Com Co., Ltd.
    • True International Communication Co., Ltd.
    • True International Gateway Co., Ltd.
    • True Internet Co., Ltd.
    • True Public Communication Co., Ltd.
    • True Universal Convergence Co., Ltd.
  • TrueVisions (Pay TV business)
    • BEC-TERO True Visions Co., Ltd.
    • Click TV Co., Ltd.
    • Satellite Service Co., Ltd.
    • Thai News Network (TNN) Co., Ltd.
    • True4U Station Co., Ltd.
    • True Visions Plc.
    • True Visions Cable Plc.
    • True Visions Group Co., Ltd.
    • True Vistas Co., Ltd.
  • Content, lifestyle and other businesses:
    • AP&J Production Co., Ltd.
    • Cineplex Co., Ltd.
    • True CJ Creations (joint venture with South Korea's CJ ENM)
    • Panther Entertainment Co., Ltd.
    • SM True (joint venture with South Korea's S.M. Entertainment)[18][19]
    • True Digital Media Co., Ltd.
    • True Distribution & Sales Co., Ltd.
    • True IContent Co., Ltd.
    • True Information Technology Co., Ltd.
    • True Life Plus Co., Ltd.
    • True Money
    • True Multimedia Co., Ltd.
    • True Music Co., Ltd.
    • True Music Radio Co., Ltd.
    • True Touch Co., Ltd.
    • True United Football Club Co., Ltd.
    • Transformation Films Co., Ltd.
    • True GS Co., Ltd.
    • Thai Smart Card Co., Ltd.

Alleged government collaboration

Thai activists have charged that True, Thailand's largest ISP, shared dissidents' internet account details to the junta in the aftermath of the 2014 Thai coup d'état. It is impossible to corroborate that True shared dissidents' data with law enforcement, but Thai governments since 2007 have sought to curb online criticism by passing legislation that compel ISPs to deploy online surveillance and censorship technologies.[20] True's Privacy Policy, allows it to share data with law-enforcement authorities.[21]

References
  1. Annual Registration Statement 2009 (56-1). True Corporation. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  2. "Financial Highlights". True Corporation. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  3. "ความใหญ่ที่แท้ทรู 'True Digital Park' ประกาศรายชื่อพันธมิตรยักษ์ใหญ่ มุ่งสร้าง Startup Ecosystem ครบวงจรที่สุด" (in Thai). Techsauce. 17 April 2018. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  4. Barton, James. "True takes second place in Thai market as Dtac profits slump". Developing Telecoms. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  5. "Vodafone and Conexus Mobile Alliance Form Strategic Partnership". www.vodafone.com. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  6. Shareinvestor. "Investor Relations". True. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  7. "PressReader.com - Connecting People Through News". www.pressreader.com. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  8. "TRUE Company Profile". Stock Exchange of Thailand. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
  9. "TA Orange's strategic partner Orange SA sells off 39% of its 49% stake in the Thai mobile operator to TelecomAsia for a nominal one Baht". Telecom Asia. 1 April 2004.
  10. Suryadinata, Leo (2006). Southeast Asia's Chinese Businesses in an Era of Globalization: Coping with the Rise of China. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. ISBN 9789812304018.
  11. "Orange reaches use-by date: True Corp's mobile unit renamed True Move". TeleGeography. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  12. Amnatcharoenrit, Bamrung and Tortermvasana, Komsan (8 November 2005). "True Corp set to take over UBC" Archived 2008-03-11 at the Wayback Machine, Bangkok Post (retrieved 18 July 2006 until 18 August 2015 via AsiaMedia.com).
  13. "True Move H – The First To Offer 4G LTE Service On 2100 MHz In Thailand While Reinforcing Its Leadership As The Largest 3G Operator,". thaipr.net.
  14. Jittapong, Khettiya (9 June 2014). "China Mobile to buy $881mln stake in Thai billionaire's True Corp". Reuters. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  15. Phoosuphanusorn, Srisamorn & Leesa-nguansuk, Suchit (10 June 2014). "China Mobile to buy into True". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  16. "True announced high-speed Internet in Bangkok with all-fiber network in 2 years". Mobileasia.
  17. "Annual Report 2014".
  18. "True Group, in Collaboration with S.M. Entertainment from South Korea, Establishes a Joint-Venture "SM True Co., Ltd."To Bring A New Era of Entertainment to Thailand". True Corporation. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  19. "S.M. Entertainment establishes joint venture company with Thailand's True Visions Group, 'SM True'". allkpop. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  20. Ajn, I. U. (1 July 2020). "Internet providers are helping the Thai government track down dissidents [ผู้ให้บริการอินเทอร์เนตมีส่วนช่วยรัฐไทยติดตามตัวผู้ที่เห็นต่าง]". New Mandala. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  21. "Personal information protection policy". True. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
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