Nile Suwansiri, Thaicom CCO. Photo: Thaicom.

Despite a tough year in 2016, Thaicom Chief Commercial Officer Patompob (Nile) Suwansiri is confident the operator will be able to bounce back as it looks to return to profit and revenue growth. He admitted to Via Satellite that 2017 will likely be “no different from 2016,” but is optimistic Thaicom’s tough period will not get any worse.

“We believe that by the end of 2017 the market will recover and net margins will start to look better. It is important to use the current softness in the market to develop new business and investment strategies in order to come out strong of the crisis that the satellite industry is experiencing right now,” he said.

Like all the other satellite operators, Suwansiri admitted Thaicom is currently facing tough price pressures. The flat demand for satellite capacity in 2016 should continue into this year, he said.

Thaicom is probably best known for its position of investing in broadband before a number of other operators in the region. Its Ipstar satellite was one of the first broadband satellites ever launched, and while making a business model out of broadband has proved far from easy, the operator has to be commended for its bravery in doing something years ahead of everybody else.

Suwansiri pointed out that demand in other markets, such as Indonesia and the Philippines, will help compensate for a weaker Australian market where Thaicom’s contract with the National Broadband Network (NBN) is ending this year. He believes as a result of this, the broadband market will “bounce back” for Thaicom.

So, with a tough year ahead for the company, will it be looking to invest in new satellites? Suwansiri points to High Throughput Satellites (HTS). “There is no doubt that there is a growing demand for broadband services in the future which will lead to a lot of competition and interesting developments. But we believe that there continues to be a strong market for Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) satellite-enabled broadband services. Thus we continue to invest in our in-orbit resources and our broadband program — especially when we believe that we can attach a solid business case to it. Ipstar was the first HTS in the world and since its launch in 2005 our name has become synonymous with satellite broadband services in Asia Pacific. Therefore we want to continue to build upon this legacy,” he said.

Suwansiri highlighted markets such as Myanmar and Kampuchea as some that may offer great potential for growth in the short and medium term for Thaicom. “The operator intends to expand its presence in Asia and beyond through investments and partnerships. One example is its recent agreement with China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) for the construction and launch of a high throughput Ka-band broadband satellite with 37 GHz of capacity. The satellite is scheduled for launch in late 2019,” he said.

While Thaicom hopes it can make an impact in new markets, and that the broadband market will bounce back, the broadcast market will remain a strong barometer in terms of measuring how the company is doing. With viewers’ habits changing toward consuming video, being successful here will be a major challenge for the operator.

Suwansiri said the video market is seeing huge changes as viewers gravitate toward Over-the-Top (OTT) and other non-linear forms of TV viewing. He believes for Thaicom to stay ahead of the curve it must adapt to this emerging new ecosystem where broadcasters can only survive and grow their business if they provide more of what viewers want in terms of how they access content.

“So in this situation of declining advertising revenues from traditional linear TV and changing viewer habits, how can our customers deliver new multiscreen formats including Ultra-HD TV and explore new markets at the same time? Thaicom is embracing this new challenge and is working hard to provide quality HD distribution platforms and multiscreen services for our customers to efficiently distribute their programming and still grow their markets. It is important to be part of the revolution, which is unstoppable, rather than fighting it,” Suwansiri said.