This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2018) |
![]() | |
Company type | Public |
---|---|
SET: ADVANC | |
Industry | Telecommunications |
Founded | 24 April 1985[1] |
Founder | Thaksin Shinawatra |
Headquarters | Phaya Thai, Bangkok, Thailand[2] |
Area served | Thailand |
Key people |
|
Products | Mobile network, Internet service provider, Internet TV |
Services | Mobile telephony, Internet |
Revenue | ![]() |
![]() | |
![]() | |
Total assets | ![]() |
Total equity | ![]() |
Number of employees | 10,586+ (2013)[4] |
Parent | Intouch Holdings |
Subsidiaries | Triple T Broadband (3BB) JASIF (Jasmine Broadband Internet Infrastructure Fund) (19%) |
Website | www |
Advanced Info Service Public Company Limited (AIS) is Thailand's largest GSM mobile phone operator with 39.87 million customers as of Q3 2016.[5][failed verification] Founded in April 1985, AIS started off as a computer rental business.[6] In October 1990, it launched analog 900 MHz mobile phone services with a 20-year monopoly concession from the Telephone Organization of Thailand (TOT), and later became the first company allowed to operate on the GSM-900 frequency.[7] It acquired Shinawatra Paging in June 1992.[citation needed]
The company is controlled by the Intouch Holdings (formerly Shin Corporation), headed by Temasek Holdings, a Singapore government-owned agency. AIS listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand on 5 November 1991 .[8] As of 23 December 2011, Intouch holds 40.45 percent of the shares of the company and Singapore Telecommunications (also majority-held by Temasek) together with Thai Trust Fund and OCBC Nominees holds a 23.32 percent stake.[9][10][11]
Temasek bought the AIS brand through the 2006 acquisition of the Shin Corporation from ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.[12]
In February 2014, in a conflict between the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PRDC) and Shinawatra, the PDRC called for a boycott of AIS, wrongly believing it to be owned by the Shinawatra family.[13]