Tot To Fight For Removal Of Article 78

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TOT to fight for removal of Article 78

By USANEE MONGKOLPORN

THE NATION

Published on October 29, 2009

TOT says it will use all means at its disposal to remove Article 78 from the draft law establishing a single broadcasting and telecom regulator.

The company considers the article a risk to its revenue.

"We'll try every way we can to take out that article. It's not fair to us," TOT spokesman Rathian Srimongkol said yesterday when asked by reporters how TOT would deal with it.

Article 78 of the draft law setting up the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) requires both state telecom agencies to transfer half of their concession revenue to the NBTC, which in turn will deposit it in the state coffers.

The Finance Ministry, sole owner of both TOT and CAT Telecom, recently contacted the state agencies to inform them about the requirement in the article but said it wanted them to transfer all of the concession revenue, not only half.

On Monday, CAT also expressed concern about the requirement.

TOT yesterday announced its financial performance for the first nine months of the year. It posted revenue of Bt52.69 billion, a decrease of Bt988 million from the same period last year. Its expenses totalled Bt47.59 billion, declining by Bt1.8 billion.

The company's net profit stood at Bt5.09 billion, an increase of Bt811 million from the same period last year, due to improved cost control.

Its concession revenue dropped to Bt15.9 billion, from Bt16.86 billion in the same period last year, due to the effect of the economic decline on its private telecom concessions.

TOT's third-generation (3G) subsidiary, TOT Mobile, will launch 3G 2.1-gigahertz wireless broadband service on December 3 on TOT's network in the greater Bangkok area. The state agency completed upgrading 514 of its 548 base stations to operate with 3G technology.

Five private firms have proposed leasing TOT's network to provide 3G service on a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) basis. The state agency is expected to decide early next month which companies it will award MVNO deals.

TOT has already requested permission from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to lease its network to the MVNO operators, but the NTC board has yet to approve the request.

The company has also submitted a maximum rate for its 3G service for approval by the NTC board but declined to tell reporters what it was.

-- The Nation 2009/10/29