"AIS" ผนึก "GMM GRAMMY" เปิดบริการ *123 Calling Grammy โหลดไม่อั้น เพลงรอสาย ยกทั้งค่ายแกรมมี่ เดือนละ 20 บาท

AIS JOINS HAND WITH GMM GRAMMY LAUNCHING THE SERVICE *123CALLING GRAMMY, UNLIMITED CALLING MELODY DOWNLOAD FROM GRAMMY MUSIC ARCHIVE FOR 20 BAHT PER MONTH FOR YOU TO CHANGE MUSIC TO YOUR TRUE MOOD

January 28, 2009: AIS joins force with GMM Grammy taking the major step to expand the calling melody market, focusing on new lifestyle, featuring the shift of calling melody to daily mood introducing the service *123 Calling Grammy offering unlimited music download from Grammy archive for only 20 Baht per month, capitalizing on calling melody as the key strategy for Digital Content market with 100% copyright violation free.

Mr. Vikrom  Sriprataks, CEO of AIS, talked about the marketing policy of value added service “One of our major policies is to cooperate with the partners specializing in a wide array of contents to deliver good and high quality contents and new experience in using mobile phones for customer benefits and great value in parallel with fueling the growth of mobile contents in the form of Industry Convergence which creates a Win-Win situation for sustainable and stable business. Music contents, in particular, contribute to the majority of portfolio with an ongoing growth this year.  In 2008, AIS generated revenue of 11,000 million Baht from Non-voice business.  For 2009, we project a 25% growth or the revenue of 13,700 million Baht; of which, music contents make up of 20%.

To extend business opportunity as well as delivering fun and entertainment in communication to customers, therefore, AIS pairs with GMM Grammy launching the service *123 Calling Grammy, the first Unlimited Download package in the calling melody market. For the value service, AIS customers enjoy the unlimited download of every song, whether modern or country, from Grammy for calling melody for 20 Baht per month, compared with 20 Baht per download currently offered in the market.

AIS customers with or without calling melody at the moment can apply to the Calling Grammy package by dialing *123 and calling out.  Thereafter, music download, change or songbook arrangement can be made through *123. (Subject to transaction fees of 3 Baht per minute) From the music genre of Thai modern and Thai country, the song list is organized in 6 menus including latest songs, top hits, top download, recommended download, special, soap opera soundtrack and oldies. 

At present, AIS records 6 million calling melody users, or a 23% of its customer base.  The number of customers applying to *123 Calling Grammy is targeted at 1 million within 6 months.  The service is likely to be the role model of Unlimited Download, the new trend of download business in the future and change customer lifestyle and behavior to enjoy unlimited music download and shift as often as demanded without pricing concern.

The cooperation between AIS and Grammy will spur the calling melody market in view of relatively higher potential and strengths than other music contents. This is the 100% legal download with copy protection because the download and service are provided on network of the mobile phone Operator only.  As a result, the Music House can absolutely resolve copyright violation problem while generating sustainable and stable incomes in music and mobile phone industry.”  Wikrom added.

“Grammy” collaborates with “AIS” to expand calling melody market

Mr. Paiboon  Damrongchaitham, Chairman of GMM Grammy (Public) Co., Ltd. unveiled “It is a great pleasure to have the opportunity to cooperate with Advanced Info Service (Public) Co., Ltd. or AIS in order to expand the calling melody market, the digital music contents possessing continual growth rate and 100% copyright violation protection.  So far the Company has placed the policy on digital music content market by focusing on innovative product and service creation in line with technology breakthrough.  For example, we have generated income from the Subscription Model in conjunction with the partners changing customer behavior from music purchase to membership with monthly fees payment which secure the revenues. 

The launch of new service *123 Calling Grammy for unlimited calling melody download

 Lately, the Company collaborates with AIS in launching the new service *123 Calling Grammy, the unlimited Calling Melody download from Grammy music archive and early update of new release of Grammy artists for the value package of 20 Baht per month.  The service will result in more frequent and often Calling Melody download and, therefore, make full use of contents and maximize revenues. 

The cooperation results from 2 common goals of both Grammy and AIS.  That includes the expectation to satisfy consumers with lifestyle connecting to mobile phone use and music listening to consume more variety of entertainment. GMM Grammy, owning the largest music archive in Thailand, wishes to find new channel to approach consumers, while AIS requires good and high quality contents.  In addition, we and AIS expect to accelerate the call waiting download volume for more frequent and often uses and eventually stimulate the growth of music content market. 

Benefits from the service are disclosed

This cooperation allows the Company to expand the distribution channel of digital contents suitable for today’s lifestyle of consumers, lower cost and reduce risks because of no product return, no transportation cost, no production cost and no inventory cost.  At the same time, direct distribution channel that approach consumers will acknowledge authentic market demand and the information crucial for more accurate marketing strategic planning.  

Moreover, GMM Grammy can expand customer base to AIS customer group.  The behavior of consumers preferring song-by-song purchase will shift to fixed monthly payment (Subscriber) which, in turn, sustain revenues and create customer database necessary for Customer Relationship Management or CRM leading to further market opportunity leveraging on a vast amount of music products in Company’s music inventory.

Expected 1 million Subscribers within the first 6 months

The campaign *123 Calling Grammy is believed to succeed due to the cooperation between AIS possessing customer base of 27 million numbers and GMM Grammy, full-fledged music service provider owning Thailand’s largest archive of music content covering every target group with over 10,000 songs. Customers can download old and new Grammy songs before anyone such as country, pop, rock and vintage, to name it, plus the privilege to listen to music online simply by logging onto www.gmember.com.  For more information, contact Call Center 02-6462888.  The campaign *123 Calling Grammy will invite over 1 million members within the first 6 months