Cable Thai Holding To Enter Laos Market

Cable Thai Holding (CTH) has formed a joint venture in Laos with two local partners in a move to expand its market.

The company is also planning a similar partnership in Cambodia.

Kittsanan Ngampathipong, CTH chief executive officer, said the company signed a deal last week to form a joint venture to create CTH SSN Television (Laos) with Lao’s communications and broadcasting business TK Group and broadcaster SSN.

With an investment of about Bt100 million, CTH has bought up a 60-per-cent majority holding in the joint venture, while the Laotian partners own the remainder.

The joint venture will broadcast English Premier League matches as well as CTH’s own content in Laos. It will also enter the broadband Internet business.

Kittsanan said CTH was planning to expand its content and services to cover four main provinces in Laos, namely Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Champasak and Suvannaket.

CTH is comprised of more than 300 cable-TV operators and provides of fibre-optic transmission and Internet broadband. Last year it surprised the market by snatching up the EPL broadcasting rights for Thailand, Cambodia and Laos for three seasons from 2013-14 to 2015-16.

Kittsanan added that CTH SSN aims to secure around 400,000 subscribers next year in Laos.

Source: The Nation