Presently, we are the only core nationwide provider of pay television services in Thailand. Our position as the principal provider of pay-television services is not secured by a regulatory dispensation and we will continue to face threats of new entrants. For example, World Star Television launched an MMDS service in 2001 in Thailand, although, this has had no substantial impact on our business as they have launched an un-encrypted service with limited content. Another pay-television service previously operated by Thai Sky discontinued operations in 1997. MCOT PLC. (formerly named The Mass Communications Organization of Thailand) granted pay-television licenses to two other companies in 1996, but those companies have not launched, or announced an intention to launch, pay-television services.

The Public Relations Department of Thailand grants annual operating licenses, and has licensed several regional cable pay-television operators of which an estimated 78 are presently operating. In addition there are an estimated 450+ cable operators in the provinces operating without the necessary licenses. These operators employ small, provincial cable systems. Unofficial estimates are that these operators together with the 78 licensed operators service between 1.5 – 2.0 million homes. The provincial cable systems have come under increased scrutiny of copyright owners who are also encouraging the government to ensure that all operators comply with Copyright Laws. Copyright owners have instituted legal proceedings against provincial cable operators. Actions from the respective regulatory agencies against such violations at a macro level have not yielded any substantial results and we ascribe this to the present regulatory vacuum caused by delays in establishing the National Broadcasting Commission.

As such over the last couple of years the TrueVisions has worked closely with its content partners to roll out initiatives aimed at protecting the intellectual property rights relating to content deployed on TrueVisions platforms. The developments of such programs and initiatives have been complicated by a legal framework that has not been updated to reflect the realities of the sector and by the need for enforcement and judicial agencies to develop experience on tackling such infringements. However with focused resource we have been able to develop our strategies and achieved some success. We are seeing a significant decline in the systematic playout of channels included in TrueVisions platform. Our focus now is on the playout of content such as DVD movies which is otherwise carried by channels on our platform such as HBO. This is an extension of our current activities and we are hopeful that we will begin to achieve similar successes in these areas. The result has been that sales for 2005 have been the highest in 6 years and net subscriber growth (excluding the once off discontinuance of RNT) being the 2nd highest in the last 6 years.