It has become a hot topic that many parties are keeping an eye on the case. “True Corporation Public Company Limited” or “True” (True) merger announcement “Total Access Communication Public Company Limited” or “DTAC” (dtac) because if the merger is successful That means that the competitive structure of the Thai telecommunication market, from 3 operators to only 2, also affects the change in market share (in terms of revenue). will affect many parts with both those who received positive and those who are negatively impacted by business mergers
before the merger
– AIS (AIS) has a market share of 47.5%
– True has a market share of 29.7%
– dtac has a market share of 22.7%
after the merger
– True + DTAC has a market share increased to 52.5%, immediately pushing AIS to the number 1 spot!
– AIS has a market share of 47.5%
TDRI Pointing out the merger “True – dtac “dangerous monopoly – Make the operator market backwards before 2004.!
Dr. Somkiat Tangkitvanich President of Thailand Development Research Institute or TDRI Commenting on the merger between True and DTAC, the two companies call the merger an Eco Partner, but whatever they call it, it is “Merge” which the mobile phone market in Thailand There is already a quasi-monopoly structure. Therefore, if there is a merger will make it more monopoly to a dangerous level
“If the market is left with only entrepreneurs 2 Revenue means that the market will go backwards before the year. 2547 We can see the future from the past history. At that time, there were only service providers. 2 The revenue is AIS and dtac. 3 is that True Move makes the service less consumer-friendly, such as locking IMEI, The service fee is high and there is a compulsory sale of trailers attached to it.
Therefore, if a merger Then the market reverts back to the way it was before the year. 2547 may affect the service price service quality and sales of various trailers which may not be useful to consumers Compared to consumers, they have more choices when it comes to entrepreneurs. 3 income”
Get to know “Index HHI” Indicates the level of market monopoly
Measuring Structural Monopoly There is a concentration index, the Herfindahl – Hirschman Index, abbreviated as the HHI Index, which ranges from 0 to 10,000. If a business has a monopoly, the HHI Index will be 10,000, whereas if a business has a single monopoly, the HHI Index is 10,000. With a large number of operators, for example a business with hundreds of operators, the HHI index will be at the lowest level of 0.
Value example HHI in the global smartphone market
– Xiaomi market share 16%
– Oppo market share 15.5%
– Vivo market share 13.0%
– Samsung market share 10.7%
– Apple market share 7.8%
– Others, market share 37.0%
The method for calculating the HHI index is to take the market share of each brand to the power of 2 and add them all together to get the HHI value of 2,210 (HHI 2,210 in 10,000 or 22%). in the world market There is some concentration in the competition, but not much. Therefore, when consumers buy a new smartphone There are quite a few options to consider when choosing a brand, but it’s not so vast.
while the Thai telecommunication market Revenue market share of 3 operators
– AIS (AIS) has a market share of 47.5%
– True has a market share of 29.7%
– dtac has a market share of 22.7%
The HHI Index before the merger was at 3,659, considered the HHI Telecom Index in Thailand. higher than the global smartphone market And if there is a merger, the remaining 2 major companies are AIS, 47.5% market share and True and DTAC 52.5% market share, which sends the HHI value after the merger to 5,012 or increased by 1,353
“In the United States Ministry of Justice and the Fair Trade Commission has guidelines for mergers and acquisitions of the same type of business; or Horizontal Merger Guideline is if value HHI Before the merger, lower 1,500 Can be merged, no problem (in the green zone)
but if the value HHI Before the merger too high 1,500 If merged, it will enter the yellow zone. is a surveillance zone There is a significant reduction in competition, but if HHI before being merged at a high level, such as Thai telecommunication before merging at 3,659 considered entering the red zone and the increase 1,353 index HHI increased exponentially
Therefore, if there is a merger The concentration will increase to a dangerous level. It is an issue that is a big problem that needs to be discussed.”
Keep an eye on who benefits – Who benefits from the merger? ?!?
TDRI reports that if the merger is successful There will be both those who are positively affected. and who will be affected negatively
The beneficiary is
– The 3 mobile operators and the shareholders of the 3 companies
Over the past 5 days, the shares of the three companies have jumped. Not only True and DTAC, but AIS has also benefited in a positive way.
– DTAC shares jumped 17%.
– True shares jumped 15%.
The shares of the two companies jumped on the news of the merger. which investors see that these two When merged, it will be number 1 in the mobile phone market.
– AIS, although not directly involved in the merger But the share price jumped as well. In addition, investors see that the market will be left with only 2 players, which will cause price competition, offering good promotions. and fewer new services than having 3 service providers. will benefit as well
Those who were negatively affected were
– Thai mobile phone market backwards before 2004
– consumers, both the general public When there are only 2 service providers left, the competition is less. may affect service charges promotion and issue packages that may not be useful to consumers and every business because every business needs to use the internet and mobile phone
– Partners of telecommunication companies and shops that will have less bargaining power with mobile operators and start-up business that raise funds through Venture Capital and join the Accelerator project if a merger happens. One more startup supporter will be lost.
– Taxpayers and government, because if there is a new spectrum auction such as 6G in the future, the merger will cause less competition in the auction. As a result, the state’s income has decreased. and when the state’s income decreases There is an opportunity to collect more taxes from taxpayers. to reduce the government deficit and soaring public debt
– Thai economic system as a whole If there is a merger This will increase the monopoly on infrastructure. affect the transformation or transitioning the country to a digital economy with higher cost
“The reason that the whole company 2 It is said in the merger that this is Eco Partnership It is an equal cooperation. But no matter what you call The economic effect is “reduce the number of entrepreneurs”.
both 2 amalgamated said the merger would help develop technology Take Thailand to compete on the world stage and be prepared to face the challenges of both 2 company in 20 The next year, the question is today both. 2 What technology does the company develop for us to know each other? Huawei Do the equipment, there are many innovations, but I have never seen that Thai telecommunication companies What new technology developments have come out?
If you look at Singapore which is a small island country But there are all mobile phone service providers such as Singtel, Starhub as well as mobile phone service providers who purchase services from Singtel, Starhub and then sell it giving consumers choice from cheap monthly packages until the package 25 dollars per month close to mid-range services in Thailand
Therefore, the merger It is not a reason to support innovation. Therefore, there must be a merger. Do not believe these claims, but rather dominate the market. This puts the market at risk of monopoly.”
“NBTC – Kor Kor Khor Khor” has the legal power to prevent monopoly.
2 Government agencies with the authority to supervise and prevent the formation of a business monopoly structure as stipulated in the law, namely
– The NBTC has the Telecommunications Business Act Section 21 indicate that
telecommunication business In addition to being subject to the law on competition The Commission shall prescribe specific measures in accordance with the nature of the telecommunications business to prevent the licensee from acting in any way that monopolizes or reduces or restricts competition in the provision of telecommunications services in the following matters:
(1) Service subsidies
(2) Business holding in the same type of service
(3) Unfair use of marketing power
(4) Behavior that prevents competition
(5) Protection of small entrepreneurs
“The law clearly states that the NBTC can impose measures to prevent business holdings in the same type of services if the NBTC does not do anything. While the new committee has not yet arrived. if so It shows that they are not trying to enforce the law they are in power. should be responsible at least legally
because if a merger occurs and cause damage In the latter days, regulators such as the NBTC will go to oversee, such as controlling prices or ordering them to reduce prices. In practice, the NBTC will control them later, which is difficult to do. This is a problem. not let them merge first. and then go ahead and solve the problem.”
– The Trade Competition Commission (NRK) has a trade competition law. 4 This Act shall not apply to the acts of
(1) central government provincial government or local government
(2) State enterprises, public organizations, or other government agencies, but only in the part that operates under the law or the resolution of the Council of Ministers that are necessary for the benefit of maintaining the security of the State. public interest common interest or provide utilities
(3) Farmers’ groups, cooperatives, or cooperative rallies under the law and has the objective of doing business for the benefit of farmers’ occupation
(4) Businesses with specific laws governing trade competition
“If the NBTC does not act as it should, There are also commercial competition laws. Applicable to the behavior of dominating the market. mergers and acquisitions But this law has issues to be interpreted because the measure 4(4) Write that this law does not apply to businesses that have specific laws governing competition. which companies wishing to merge may argue that The Trade Competition Commission or Kor Kor. has no authority to oversee. as stated in the measure 4(4)
but personally The term business is governed by specific laws. But if the law governing not standard It is considered that it does not fit the scale. 4(4) and GC can screen mergers and acquisitions
Therefore, the first line to prevent monopoly mergers is that the NBTC has the power to do it and has enough time to do it.
The second stage is “กว. and is a market competitive analysis agency
The third stage is government. If regulators are ineffective. This means that government agencies must Take Action or S.MPs in the House of Representatives must present the matter. to prevent mergers from occurring.
But if the political mechanism still can’t hope is the duty of the people as a citizen Must be politically driven because this is the future of the country. under the digital economy where the infrastructure has no competition nominate the law to pressure the MPs or as consumers unite” Dr. Somkiat Conclude
