IN Brief

CDMA work completed

COMMUNICATIONS :Huawei Technologies says it has completed its CDMA mobile network expansion for CAT Telecom, covering 51 provinces in addition to the 25 already served by the Hutch cellular service in which CAT is a partner.

The Chinese telecom equipment supplier said the CDMA2000 1x system would support a variety of existing and future applications including Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), wireless broadband and streaming media.

"The reliability testing of the project was finished on Jan 22, which was very satisfying," said Zuo Yongqian, managing director of Huawei Technologies (Thailand) Co Ltd. "We have overcome many challenges and unexpected difficulties such as floods, lack of electricity, and unrest in southern Thailand."

New scales required

GOLD :The Commerce Ministry has ordered retail gold outlets to acquire digital scales with high-precision measurement to two decimal points (0.01 grammes) in order to improve measurement accuracy.

Scales should show exactly 15.16 grammes for a one-baht weight, the standard used in sales of gold accessories such as chains, says Siripol Yodmuangcharoen, the director-general of the ministry's Internal Trade Department.

The scales must be installed by March 14 in shop areas that are clearly visible to both buyers and sellers. Shops that fail to comply could face fines up to 20,000 baht and/or jail terms up to six months.

14-day bills yield 4.75%

DEBT MARKET :The Bank of Thailand yesterday auctioned 25 billion baht worth of 14-day bills for a weighted average accepted yield of 4.75925%. Accepted bid yields ranged from 4.72% to 4.775%, with the bid coverage ratio 1.46 times.

Reserves up $100m

FINANCIAL DATA :International reserves totalled $65.6 billion as of Jan 19, compared with $65.5 billion the week before, the Bank of Thailand said yesterday.

The net forward position was $7.9 billion as of Jan 19, unchanged from the previous week. Net claims on government were 38.9 billion baht, compared with 59.1 billion. Net claims on financial institutions were -916.8 billion baht, compared with -740.7 billion. Reserve money was 794 billion baht, compared with 817.3 billion.

Bangkok Post
Sunday January 28, 2007