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CAT Makes Move To Speed Up Granting Of NTC 3G Permit


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Posted

CAT makes move to speed up granting of NTC 3G permit

By Usanee Mongkolporn

The Nation

CAT Telecom's official launch of its nationwide third-generation wireless broadband service, planned for the third quarter, will be delayed if the national telecom watchdog does not soon grant the long-awaited permit to install and use HSPA equipment, CAT chief executive officer Jirayuth Rungsrithong said yesterday.

In an effort to move the process along, the CAT board yesterday approved withdrawing one of the two points in its complaint to the Central Administrative Court against the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). CAT will withdraw that part of the complaint questioning the NTC's overall regulatory power, while maintaining a more specific complaint.

It is hoped this will make the NTC feel more confident of its authority so that it will quickly grant the permit for CAT to install and use HSPA (high-speed packet access) technology to provide 3G service.

But, Jirayuth said, CAT would first talk to the NTC next week to make sure withdrawing part of the court complaint will actually have the desired effect so that the 3G project can go ahead.

CAT now takes the position that the new Frequency Allocation Act, which took effect last December, did empower the NTC to act on behalf of the upcoming National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).

However, CAT will not withdraw the other the issue in its complaint, that the NTC has no authority to auction 3G licences for the 2.1-gigahertz spectrum.

Jirayuth said that if CAT were to withdraw both issues, it would risk legal repercussions.

Recently NTC commissioner Sudharma Yoonaidharma said that although the NTC now acts on the NBTC's behalf, this does not mean the NTC can do everything regarding 3G issues, given that there is still no telecom and broadcasting spectrum master plan.

In CAT's view, as specified in its court complaint last September, the present Constitution authorises the NBTC, not the NTC, to grant new spectrum licences.

Moreover, in its original complaint, it questioned the NTC's continuing existence, given that the 1997 charter, which gave birth to NTC, was scrapped by the coup in 2006.

With its authority thus questioned and before the court, the NTC has refused to grant CAT the permit it needs to set up the 3G-HSPA network.

Jirayuth said the telecom network suppliers have already imported the HSPA equipment.

CAT signed deals with True Corp's subsidiaries Real Move and Real Future in January to provide HSPA service jointly. The HSPA equipment is for Real Future subsidiary BFKT (Thailand) to lease to CAT for wholesale service.

CAT has already leased capacity to Real Move, using TrueMove's existing HSPA network.

In a related matter, the CAT board also approved divestment of CAT's 25-per-cent share in its telecom network provider concessionaire United Information Highway to UIH's major shareholder the Benchachinda Co.

CAT will gain Bt260 million from the share sales.

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-- The Nation 2011-06-11

Posted
the CAT board yesterday approved withdrawing one of the two points in its complaint to the Central Administrative Court against the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). CAT will withdraw that part of the complaint questioning the NTC's overall regulatory power, while maintaining a more specific complaint.

But, Jirayuth said, CAT would first talk to the NTC next week to make sure withdrawing part of the court complaint will actually have the desired effect so that the 3G project can go ahead.

It seem that after all nothing has changed or will change in the forseeable future.

Posted (edited)

Very funny. CAT on one hand blocked the 2.1 auction process arguing that the NTC didn't have the right to conduct the auction. On the other hand, it urges the same entity to expedite an import license for 850 MHz W-CDMA equipments (i.e. to refarm the current CDMA spectrum into W-CDMA). Two contradictory points. Obviously, CAT didn't want to spend additional capital to buy a 2.1 license.

The fact is, the project is already delayed and BFKT is not likely to finish the deployment before Q1 or Q2 next year.

Meanwhile, AIS is quietly refarming its 900 MHz spectrum to deploy W-CDMA on its shiny new Ericsson gear and TOT 2.1 still goes on.

Thai telecom world is full of surprises.

Edited by Disinto
Posted

The NBTC isn't still 100% operational yet and since the last coup, it was supposed to take over the former NTC role. In the meantime, NTC still does the interim work but its legitimity has been challenged by CAT.

Posted

I saw that in the news as well. I guess it's a mistake because during the latest bid (with SL consortium as a winner), all RF units were to operate on 2.1.

Posted (edited)

I know TOT have asked Thai Mobile to upgrade its 1900 MHz network to 3G but so far I see no evidence of a complete reuse of this frequency for TOT's planned 15.99B baht, nationwide network.

Let's wait and see.

Edited by Disinto
Posted

Yawn. Just like the new airport lingered on and on.

Thailand will be 3G when the rest of the world has moved to another planet.

Posted

Yawn. Just like the new airport lingered on and on.

Thailand will be 3G when the rest of the world has moved to another planet.

Maybe not another planet.

But 4G is out and operating in the US and parts of Europe. (I don't know why Thailand didn't simply go 4G and skip 3G completely since they were so far behind - or will we be in the same situation in a few years time querying the delay in Thailand's 4G rollout when the rest of the world has started the move to 5G...)

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