However, the current political uncertainty made it difficult to forecast how much progress could be made, he said.

Mr Teerawut said that TOT aimed to take a comprehensive approach to 3G, compared with private operators who have been taking only tentative steps to upgrade their networks.

TOT had earlier assessed the internal rate of return or IRR of the project at 20.1% with a payback period of seven years and five months.

The state enterprise wants to install 5,220 base stations, including 2,500 in Bangkok, between 2008 and 2012, at a total cost of 29 billion baht in total.

It expects to have 350,000 users in the first year of operation, increasing to four million in 2013. It aims capture a 15% share of the 3G service market with revenue of at least 10 billion baht a year.

TOT deputy president Varut Suvakorn said that since the investment was huge, TOT might need to look for long-term funds on a government-to-government basis, as current lending interest rates were high, at 6-7%.

Bangkok Post