Tot Wants Control Of Mobile Call Routes

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TOT wants control of mobile call routes

Teerawit: Smooth, reliable connections

Operators question state firm's authority

BANGKOK: -- TOT Corporation has told mobile operators to shut down their direct interconnection gateways and route calls through its network starting in September.

The state-owned telecom operator says the move will help end signal congestion that has plagued mobile phone users for months, and facilitate smoother connections among different operators.

But the operators question whether TOT has the authority to demand that all calls be routed through its system.

TOT president Teerawit Charuwat said the move would serve to legalise all interconnection practices under existing concession contracts with private operators and state agencies.

He said that shutting direct links would pave the way for a single interconnection regime to be determined by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

Meanwhile, he said, mobile call connections were getting better and would improve dramatically by the end of August when market leader Advanced Info Service (AIS) is scheduled to complete the second phase of its digital trunk interface expansion to connect with the TOT network.

Earlier, TOT called on all mobile phone operators to expand their outgoing connections to TOT gateways to enable smoother connections. At the same time, TOT increased its outgoing gateway capacity to help ease congestion.

Under the first-phase expansion, AIS is installing an additional 528 digital trunk interface points to the TOT gateway, while second-ranked DTAC is adding 720 points and No.3 operator TA Orange is putting in 680 points. TOT, at the same time, is adding 520 interface points to AIS gateways, 720 to DTAC and 680 to TA Orange.

In the second phase, AIS will install an additional 378 circuit points to TOT while DTAC will install another 446 points. In turn, TOT will increase its links to AIS gateways by 440 points and to DTAC by 445.

Mr Teerawit said that so far, AIS had completed the installation of 150 new circuit cards connecting with TOT while DTAC had finished 274 and TA Orange 146.

For its part, TOT has installed its first set of 469 points connecting with AIS, 275 with DTAC and 146 with TA Orange.

Each interface point can handle 30 cross-network calls simultaneously.

Mr Teerawit added that DTAC was poised to be the first company to complete the connection process followed by AIS.

"Following recent discussions (between TOT and CAT Telecom), once the market leader finishes the expansion plan, all cellular operators will have to disconnect their interconnection gateways with each other and reroute all cross-connecting calls through the TOT gateway," Mr Teerawit said.

Technically, mobile operators were not supposed to set up direct links with each other, but as the practice benefited the growing number of mobile phone users, the rule was not enforced, he said.

Based on concession agreements, AIS is only supposed to link directly with TOT, its concession holder, while DTAC and TA Orange can only have direct links with CAT Telecom, which holds their concessions.

AIS and DTAC now have interconnection gateways that link directly with each other. Each gateway is equipped with 400 circuit cards, which enables each operator to accommodate 24,000 cross-network calls simultaneously.

Mr Teerawit pointed out that as part of its new interconnection plan, TOT would build 13 interconnection points nationwide in a pilot project.

Meanwhile, an executive of DTAC questioned whether TOT had the authority to issue orders to operators who did not operate under concessions with the state enterprise.

He said TOT's order was in violation of the Telecom Business Act and could be considered a conflict of interest since TOT was a direct competitor of private operators. The NTC is supposed to handle all industry regulation.

He also said the shutdown would ultimately hurt consumers as operators would incur additional upgrading costs to be passed on to end-users and there was no guarantee that the TOT interconnection expansion would accommodate increased traffic.

--Bangkok Post 2005-07-15