Bad Phone Connection ?

NTC starts new Web board

Published on October 20, 2004

The national telecom regulator wants to hear from consumers on its Internet homepage as it tries to build a forum for people to exchange their views on the communications industry.

Launched last week, the Web board at www.ntc.or.th has received more than 30 questions and complaints from the telecom consumers.

The seven National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) members have assigned colleagues to answer all the questions concerning the NTC's policies and regulations.

One NTC member, Prasit Prapinmongkolkarn, said that soon all seven NTC members would answer questions on the site based on their specific areas of expertise and knowledge.

Currently NTC members answer questions relevant to telecom policies, while the agency's staff addresses those concerning legal aspects.

All opinions will be taken into account when drawing up market regulations, said Arthorn Chantawimol, another NTC member.

One poster on the board asked the NTC to find a way to cut the monthly charge for high-speed Internet access service by 50 per cent from the present level of between Bt500 and Bt1,000.

The NTC responded that the price would fall in the next six months, but did not say by how much.

Another poster asked the NTC to tell leading cell-phone operator Advanced Info Service Plc (AIS) to bill customers' calls on a by-the-second basis, like all of its rivals do. It should not base its decision on who owns AIS, the person wrote. AIS was founded by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's family. The NTC said that those who want AIS to introduce billing by the second, should come together and send a joint request to AIS.

It added that consumers should switch to different telecom operators if they think the telecom operators they are with take advantage of them.

Some also asked when the NTC would implement number portability, which allows consumers to switch service providers and keep their existing phone numbers.

The NTC responded that the advantages and disadvantages of number portability should be considered carefully before implementation.

Usanee Mongkolporn

THE NATION