(Source: Matthew Schwartz on Unsplash)

Thailand's dominant telecom operator, Advanced Info Service (AIS), is expanding its footprint in Southeast Asia by acquiring indirect holdings in Lao Telecom (LTC) through an investment valued at 1.46 billion Thai baht (US$43.35 million).

In a disclosure to the Stock Exchange of Thailand on Wednesday, AIS said that its board of directors had approved the motion to acquire a 49% stake in Shennington Investment (SHEN), a Singapore-based holding company which owns 49% of the Lao operator.

The investment is structured as an acquisition of indirect holdings, meaning that AIS is not taking a direct stake in Lao Telecom itself, but rather gaining exposure through an intermediary holding structure.

The transaction will be executed by AIS Inter Venture Company Limited (AIV), a subsidiary of AIS. AIV will acquire a 49% stake in SHEN from Asia Mobile Holdings and will also assume the rights under the existing loan agreement between Asia Mobile and SHEN.

Once the deal has been finalized, AIS will effectively acquire an indirect stake of 24.01% in Lao Telecom. Gulf Space Technology (formerly Thaicom) will continue to hold the remaining 51% of SHEN.

AIS expects the agreement to be signed and the share acquisition transaction to be completed by December 31, 2026.

Wide open for growth

Thailand and Laos have strong economic, cultural and infrastructure ties, including fiber and transmission links along the Mekong corridor.

Compared to Thailand's mature market, Laos' relatively underpenetrated and under-invested telecom infrastructure market offers more room for growth. This gives AIS exposure to rising mobile data consumption, digital services adoption and enterprise connectivity demand in a developing economy.

"This investment provides the company with an opportunity to expand its business base into the telecommunications market in Lao People's Democratic Republic through LTC and LTC's subsidiaries, which already have an established business base and the potential to generate continuous long-term revenue. The company can apply its own expertise together with its existing business base to develop joint business opportunities," AIS stated in its stock filing.

AIS noted that Laos' telecom market currently has a total of 4.4 million mobile subscribers, representing 57% of the population, and has approximately 200,000 broadband Internet users out of 1.4 million households. Lao Telecom holds the number one market share and, together with its subsidiary T-PLUS, had a combined total of 2.48 million mobile subscribers as of the end of 2025.

"The penetration rate for both mobile telephony and home Internet services still have room for growth, and combined with the continued growth potential of the Lao PDR economy, demand for telecommunications services has the opportunity for continuous long-term growth," said AIS.

AIS also pointed out that the growing digital usage behavior in Laos, coupled with the popularity of Thai entertainment services, creates an opportunity to promote growth in digital value-added services, entertainment content and digital payment services via M-Money. This will generate revenue from a more diverse range of services.

The Thai operator said that the increase in government projects and large-scale infrastructure investment in Laos also creates opportunities to provide telecom solutions for projects and businesses, such as railway systems, expressways and special economic zones.

"Lao PDR's geographic location [also] presents an opportunity to further develop its role as an international network connection point linking to other countries in the region, such as China and Vietnam, to support cross-border communication connectivity needs," AIS said.