Suphajee Suthumpun, chairman of both InTouch media and new business group and satellite and international business group, said recently that she has a lot of ideas about potential new businesses.
While she declined to specify them, she said that the new business must be able to synergise with the group's existing businesses, bringing in maximum benefit to the group, and generating new growth.
InTouch's executive committee chairman, Somprasong Boonyachai, has assigned Suphajee, who also serves as Thaicom's chief executive officer, to explore new business opportunities for the group.
InTouch's flagships include Thailand's largest cellular operator in terms of subscriber numbers Advanced Info Service, and satellite operator Thaicom.
InTouch is reportedly interested in exploring more telecom business opportunities in neighbouring countries.
It already has a telecom business in Laos and Cambodia.
Thaicom owns 51 per cent stake in Shenington Investments, which owns 49 per cent of Lao Telecommunica-tions and 100 per cent of Cambodia-based telecom operator Mfone, res-pectively. But it has been speculated that Shenington will divest its shares in Mfone to other players in Cam-bodia's highly competitive market.
In 2003, InTouch charted out new business frontiers.
It joined with AirAsia Sdn Bhd to establish the low-cost airline Thai AirAsia, and also set up a consumer finance firm Capital OK with DBS Bank, Singapore, before completely exiting them in 2007, to focus on the core telecom business.
Suphajee officially took the Thaicom CEO post last August, replacing Arak Chonlatanon. She is also InTouch's member of the executive committee and member of the strategic and organisational review committee.
Before joining Thaicom, she held the positions of managing director of IBM Thailand and general manager of Global Technology Services Group, IBM Asean.
As of last November, Cedar Holdings and Aspen Holdings, both associated with Singapore's state investment arm Temasek Holdings, owned 46.44 per cent and 41.62 per cent of InTouch, respectively.
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