AIS Marshalls Forces To Fight State Bid To Punish Company

[webfact]

AIS marshalls forces to fight state bid to punish company

By Usanee Mongkolporn

The Nation

Political move to stall push for damages

The government's attempt to punish Advanced Info Service for its allegedly unlawful concession amendments could face tough sledding, following efforts by the private and political sectors to delay the move.

A Government House source said last week that if Information and Communications Technology Minister Chuti Krairiksh proposes solutions for AIS concession amendments to the Cabinet tomorrow as planned, they would be refused. He would be asked to revise them, as the case needed to be examined thoroughly or it will hurt consumers, the source said.

AIS is by far the largest cellular operator with about 30 million subscribers. Should it collapse, state enterprises or other private companies are not in a position to cope with the resulting service disruption.

The ICT Ministry wants AIS to resume paying TOT a share of its prepaid revenue at the original step-up rate, instead of the present flat rate granted by the sixth concession amendment in 2001.

Chuti is upbeat about the change back to the old rate, since it is in line with the Supreme Court's ruling last February to seize the assets of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

SOME WANT CHUTI TO FAIL

While Chuti is in a hurry to present the AIS case first to the Cabinet, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has told him to submit solutions for the concession amendments of all telecom operators to the Cabinet in one package to avoid criticism of discrimination.

The Shinawatras are the founder of Shin Corp, AIS' parent.

The source said some politicians from coalition parties reportedly would like to see Chuti fail in handling the AIS case, as they want to see a change in the ICT minister's post.

AIS also faces a claim of Bt73 billion from TOT, which granted AIS its concession. The sum is based on alleged damages stemming from the concession amendments. If it does not pay the full amount by the deadline of February 15, TOT will rush the case to court.

A coalition party source said an attempt is being made to propose a win-win solution. One possibility may look like the same model as the 3G business partnership of CAT Telecom and True Corp. However, the details of the win-win solution have yet to be finalised.

Under the CAT-True 3G partnership, True will install 3G equipment on CAT's two separate cellular |networks nationwide while True |will resell this planned 3G cellular service.

Pheu Thai MP Pracha Prasopdee, chairman of the House committee on law, justice and human rights, will this week propose that the committee discuss TOT's plan to seek damages from AIS, after a AIS shareholder |petitioned him for justice on the |matter.

Besides political movements to stall this process, the private sector is also lobbying hard.

AIS' strategic partner, Singapore Telecom, will meet Abhisit tomorrow before the Cabinet meeting out of what is believed to be its desire to discuss with him AIS' fate.

Mark Chong Chin Kok, AIS' chief operating officer, who was sent from SingTel to AIS, declined to comment, saying it was the matter for AIS' shareholders.

SingTel is under Temasek Holdings, which controls Shin.

SingTel representatives, including Mark of AIS, had met Chuti and Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij early this month, but Chuti said they just paid a visit to wish him Happy New Year and there were no talks on AIS' concession problem.

AIS has said it was prepared to defend itself legally from any Cabinet decision that could hurt its business.

"Let it come," Somprasong Boonyachai, executive chairman of Shin, said about the decision.

-- The Nation 2011-01-31

[Theoutsider]

Reading the headline i thought the men in black where at it again. Who runs their car park

[animatic]

Just the usual maneuverings to save money, that would go to the Thai people as a whole.

AIS corporate mindset seems to reflect Shinawatra mind set as a corporate culture, regardless of who the owners are today.

Edited January 31, 2011 by animatic