3G Licensing In Thailand To Go Ahead

[webfact]

3G licensing to go ahead

By The Nation

Government plan to terminate the current mobile-phone service concessions could face legal hurdles; NTC will hold roadshows overseas in attempt to woo foreign bidders Usanee Monglkolporn

BANGKOK: -- While the national telecom regulator is moving ahead as planned with its grant-ing of 3G spectrum licences, the

government's concession-termination plan runs the risk of getting snagged by a legal hurdle.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the National Telecommunications Commission could go ahead with the plan to grant the third-generation licences, scheduled for September, as the government had no authority to intervene.

He made the remark during a meeting with the watchdog yesterday.

Natee Sukonrat, an NTC member, said after the meeting that the NTC would continue with its plan.

The agency informed Abhisit that it had sent the final 3G-2.1GHz licensing plan for publication in the Royal Gazette.

The NTC will hold a series of overseas roadshows next week, beginning with China, South Korea and Japan, in an attempt to woo foreign telecom operators to bid for the three 3G licences.

Abhisit met with the NTC to talk about its 3G licensing plan and the government's own plan to terminate current mobile-phone service concessions and replace them with 2G (second generation) licences issued by the regulator.

He said the government's concession-termination plan required collaboration from all parties, notably the private telecom concession holders, state telecom agencies and the NTC itself. The government will talk with all of them on the matter.

NTC member Sudharma Yoonai-dharma, who is a legal expert, told the premier that the government should examine thoroughly whether its concession-termination plan contradicted Article 80 of the Telecom Business Act.

Under the article, telecom operators that obtained concessions from TOT or CAT Telecom prior to the date the telecom law came into force, have the right to continue the telecom business under the existing rights and scope of the concessions until they expire.

Should the concession holders want to convert the concessions into licences, the NTC can issue them but the licence periods will be equal to the remaining concession periods, he said.

Under the Finance Ministry's concession-termination concept, it wants to see the NTC issue 15-year licences to mobile-phone concession holders for the operation of 2G services.

The concessions of True Move and Advanced Info Service (AIS) end in 2013 and 2015, respectively, while that of Total Access Communication (DTAC) expires in 2018.

A representative of the Finance Ministry said at yesterday's meeting that the ministry considered the clause should no longer be legally binding on the concession holders when they become 2G licence holders after their concessions are terminated.

However, Sudharma interpreted the clause differently, namely that it would still be binding on the 2G licences.

Meanwhile, the joint committee established by the Information and Communications Technology Ministry and the Finance Ministry to draw up the concession-termination plan will finalise the details within 30 days.

Chaired by ICT Minister Chuti Krairiksh, the committee held its first meeting yesterday, after which he said it might hire a legal consultant to examine all the legal implications of concession termination.

If the panel were to ask the Council of State to look into the matter, it would likely take more time to provide an opinion, he said.

He said the committee's seven members would convene every day in order to finalise the plan within the 30-day deadline.

He added that the government had to keep moving forward with its plan, otherwise TOT and CAT would be adversely affected.

Private telecom operators, if they can obtain 3G licences, are likely to migrate customers from the concessions to the lower-cost licences in order to save huge regulatory costs - and this would be at the expense of TOT and CAT.

The operators have paid an average of 25 per cent of their revenue as concession fees, while the 3G licences will cost them just 6 per cent of revenue.

Yesterday, Abhisit also said the ICT and Finance ministries needed to boost the performance of the two state agencies in light of the possible termination of the concessions.

Most of their revenue is from concession fees. TOT owns the concessions of AIS, while CAT owns those of True Move and DTAC.

The draft of the upcoming National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission law also obliges them to transfer all concession fees directly to the state coffers three years after the law comes into effect.

-- The Nation 2010-07-22

[RKASA]

"The operators have paid an average of 25 per cent of their revenue as concession fees,"

wrong consumers pay it - the operators just collect it for state enterprises.

That 25% was your money and the reason telco don't spend more installing more and better services. All telcom made more money with more customers when it was changed before but then it was a crime. Now they see why it was the right thing to do in the first place.

They always knew it was the right thing to do they just didn't like who did it.

[SomTumTiger]

God, yet another damned 3g thread. Can't we just put a moratorium on these until the tread says "3g is HERE!"

Edited July 22, 2010 by SomTumTiger

[tominbkk]

I was in Hanoi last week and 3G is almost everywhere...I got a pre-paid sim and it was blazingly fast. Good stuff, maybe Thailand needs to learn from Vietnam.

[quiksilva]

Thailand needs to learn a lot of different things from a lot of different places.

[Jimi007]

Thailand needs to learn a lot of different things from a lot of different places.

Very true!

I found this line in the article quite interesting:

The NTC will hold a series of overseas roadshows next week, beginning with China, South Korea and Japan, in an attempt to woo foreign telecom operators to bid for the three 3G licences.

If there are only three 3 G licenses to bid on, what happens to the 2G license holders?

[EODghost]

Thailand needs to learn a lot of different things from a lot of different places.

Well said. I am so sick of hearing about 3G. The rest of the world will have 8G by the time the greedy Thai govt gets its a** in gear.

[tombkk]

I found this line in the article quite interesting:

The NTC will hold a series of overseas roadshows next week, beginning with China, South Korea and Japan, in an attempt to woo foreign telecom operators to bid for the three 3G licences.

If there are only three 3 G licenses to bid on, what happens to the 2G license holders?

Presumably, those licences will remain in place, as many consumers still use 2G.

However, if I were an overseas phone company, I'm not sure whether I would invest in 3G technology in Thailand right now. Not only is the legal situation unclear (as the article says), but other countries are starting to introduce 4G now. Thailand slept through 3G while less develped neighbours have had it for a while. Why not just skip 3G and go straight to 4G?

[mellow1]

Can't even get 1G with CAT CDMA 99% of the time.

[Jimi007]

Can't even get 1G with CAT CDMA 99% of the time.

I have a Verizon USA CDMA phone here in Phuket and it always seems to have 4 bars reception. I don't take anywhere though as if I answer it, it's $1.99 a minute. I see the number and call back on my Thai phone. Plus it's $20.48 a MB for data. Roaming charges! Ugh.

But are you confusing 3G (third Generation mobile phone system) with gigabytes (download speed)?

[Jimi007]

I found this line in the article quite interesting:

The NTC will hold a series of overseas roadshows next week, beginning with China, South Korea and Japan, in an attempt to woo foreign telecom operators to bid for the three 3G licences.

If there are only three 3 G licenses to bid on, what happens to the 2G license holders?

Presumably, those licences will remain in place, as many consumers still use 2G.

However, if I were an overseas phone company, I'm not sure whether I would invest in 3G technology in Thailand right now. Not only is the legal situation unclear (as the article says), but other countries are starting to introduce 4G now. Thailand slept through 3G while less develped neighbours have had it for a while. Why not just skip 3G and go straight to 4G?

I said the same thing in another thread on 3G. Why bother with 3G, just go directly to 4G. And it seems as though the Finance Ministry wants the 2G contracts terminated, but they can't unless the licensee agrees to do so... I keep reading different things, but the NTC has the power to issue the new 3G contracts, not the Finance Ministry that owns 100% of TOT and CAT and is going to lose profits under the new licensing program. So, that's why I am still wondering what is going to really happen with the 2G licenses.

[livinthailandos]

How many posts have we seen regarding news about 3G, I can tell you one thing to many for me to count. Between

CAT, TOT, NTC, ICT and to many groups interested in their own benefit, I think its still going to be 2G for quite sometime. Seriously I'm still waiting to see if, when, or how 3G might arrive in thailand.

I may not have 3G for mobile but thank god at least at home I've got 5mb premier from 3BB.

[livinthailandos]

Forgot to add please don't talk about 4G and thailand in the same sentence. It's already embarrassing that 3G can't even get going, how does anyone seriously expect thailand to even think, talk, or implement 4G mobile phone networks when it can't even license, implement 3G.

Maybe in 10 years we will get 4G although considering its taken 6 years and still ongoing for 3G I wouldn't hold my breath.

[MJo]

Implementing 4G might prove bit difficult. For the simple reason that it does not exist yet. The standards are not finalized yet. Some countries, Sweden and like, have implemented small networks with 4G prototype technology but there is no devices other than bulky prototype usb modems. It's still at least couple of years away from full commercial use.

WiMax and the like are not 4G, just evolution of 3G technology so 3.something.

[Jimi007]

Forgot to add please don't talk about 4G and thailand in the same sentence. It's already embarrassing that 3G can't even get going, how does anyone seriously expect thailand to even think, talk, or implement 4G mobile phone networks when it can't even license, implement 3G.

Maybe in 10 years we will get 4G although considering its taken 6 years and still ongoing for 3G I wouldn't hold my breath.

Oh boy, I just have to say it once more; amazing Thailand. But they want to have a nuclear power plant!

[puyaidon]

I think it is utterly amazing that the powers to be can't seem to get 3G moving but Verizon will have granted access to 4G in major areas as well as airports in the US by the end of this year.

http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/hiner/?p=6348&tag=nl.e019

[SomTumTiger]

I think it is utterly amazing that the powers to be can't seem to get 3G moving but Verizon will have granted access to 4G in major areas as well as airports in the US by the end of this year.

http://blogs.techrep...348&tag=nl.e019

You had to dig up a 4 month old thread to say that? Fail....