Thai state telecoms TOT and CAT merge to create ‘National Telecom’

BANGKOK — Thailand’s state-owned telecommunications operators TOT and CAT Telecom on Thursday completed a long-delayed merger made necessary by strong private-sector competition.

The new company, rebranded as National Telecom, will consolidate overlapping administrative staff such as those in the financial, human resources and legal departments. The process eventually will expand to other divisions, such as those involving information technology.

This approach will streamline operations and reduce costs, but no staff cuts are planned.

Somsak Khaosuwan, the former acting chairman of TOT, initially will serve as acting CEO of National Telecom. The company plans to boost earnings in the short term by capturing demand from public-sector agencies to introduce 5G networks.

TOT and CAT once controlled monopolies over domestic and international telephone services, respectively. That changed in…