Five Unusual Practices Found In CAT 3G Deals: ICT Minister Anudith

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TELECOM

Five unusual practices found in CAT 3G deals, Anudith

USANEE MONGKOLPORN

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- Subscribers to the 3G service under CAT Telecom and True Corp group partnership deals should be able to relax - at least for the moment - despite the conclusion by an Information and Communications Technology Ministry committee that it found five 'unusual practices' in the way the deals were developed.

At the committee's announcement of its final probe result on the deal's legality yesterday, ICT minister Anudith Nakornthap said both CAT and True group could continue to do business under the deals.

He added that the probe focused on how the deals were made and who got involved, not on the 3G service deals themselves.

True sent a release to the press yesterday saying it declined to comment on the committee's conclusion but reaffirmed the deals were made in full compliance with the law and regulations.

It said the committee’s conclusion did not have any impact on the deals and the offering of the TrueMove H service.

True subsidiary Real Move, which provides the 3G service under the TrueMove H brand, now has around one million users.

True's share price yesterday closed at Bt3.64, down 2.2 per cent.

In its final conclusion on the deal's legality, the ICT ministry's committee found five unusual practices in the way the CAT-True 3G partnership deals were developed.

The committee said it was possible political interference resulted in CAT failing to take over Hutchison Telecom's business in Thailand and paved the way for True group to do so instead.

CAT's proposal to Cabinet on December 2010 that the Code Division Multiple Access cellular service should be discontinued and the 3G wholesale-resale service developed, did not comply with PM's Office regulations on the investments with state agencies.

CAT also failed to comply with the then Cabinet's order that CAT had to consult with state agencies first before launching the 3G service. CAT has asked the ministry to approve its plan to spend Bt12 billion to roll out telecom facilities to enhance its 3G service without making it comply with the 1992 Public-Private Joint Venture Law first. Anudith said he would have supported this plan if CAT had proceeded according to the law.

Anudith will announce in a few days which state agencies he will send the probe conclusion to for further investigation. They could include the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) and the National Anti-Corruption Commis-sion (NACC) - which has already scrutinised the deal's legality. He will also conclude what CAT should do to remedy the situation to be in line with the committee's conclusion.

He strongly denied any conclusion would be politically motivated to attack the previous government.

The Pheu Thai Party, then in opposition, also launched a censure debate against the previous ICT minister Chuti Krairiksh over the legitimacy of the deals.

The Senate’s good governance and anti-corruption committee concluded last month that the deals may have breached the 2010 Frequency Allocation Law. It forwarded its conclusion to the NACC and the National Broadcasting and Telecom-munication Commission.

The NBTC will appoint a panel to scrutinise the deals by focusing on whether the deals violated Article 46 (2) of the frequency allocation law, which prohibits licence holders like CAT and TOT from transferring the right to use their spectra to other parties, to act on their behalf.

-- The Nation 2012-03-27

[daiwill60]

Funny that this story should coincide with the story of unusual wealth investigation of said investigation leader Anudith.

[Hornell]

Can anyone explain to me in Janet and John language exactly what the situation regarding 3G actuall is in Thailand at the moment?

[laurentbkk]

Can anyone explain to me in Janet and John language exactly what the situation regarding 3G actuall is in Thailand at the moment?

Easy , the 3G network is only onthe paper as it doesnt really work ....the 3G here is as fast as a 1G in other countries ... LOL

[animatic]

Can anyone explain to me in Janet and John language exactly what the situation regarding 3G actuall is in Thailand at the moment?

Bordel Superior.

SNAFU.

Edited March 27, 2012 by animatic

[tragickingdom]

Charoen Pokhand is a Democrat sponsor. We see week after week how the "clean" democrats took good care of their friends. From Sondhi who scammed creditors for billions, to Suthep with his landscam to Charoen Pokhand with it's cozy contracts. Soon the owners of the Nation will be under investigation again, maybe this time they can finish the probe.

[Thai at Heart]

To see the seesaw accusations that run around the telecoms business depending on which party is in power or not shows that it is probably the most corrupt of all the industries.

If ever there is a business that should be opened up to anyone to stop these cosy arrangements and create benefits for the CONSUMER instead of oligopoly profit with a good dose of government screw ups thrown in for good measure.

[asdecas]

To see the seesaw accusations that run around the telecoms business depending on which party is in power or not shows that it is probably the most corrupt of all the industries.

If ever there is a business that should be opened up to anyone to stop these cosy arrangements and create benefits for the CONSUMER instead of oligopoly profit with a good dose of government screw ups thrown in for good measure.

Well that's self-evident - just look at old squarejaw and where his squillions came from!

Remember the old cop-show adage? - "Follow the money".

[sparebox2]

Mark and the Dem have done no wrong. They never ask for any under table money to approve TRUR deal and kick out AIS at the same time., when Mark was in power.

It was all a misunderstanding.

[asdecas]

"Only five?" seems to be the most appropriate comment.

Edited March 27, 2012 by asdecas

[easybullet3]

i wasnt really sure what the article was saying.

The deals which led to the set-up of 3G were corrupt and broke some laws. (so technically, the 3G is illegal in Thailand), but they will just leave it how it is.. and maybe issue some fines to the people who set-up these illegal deals.

is that correct?

Edited March 27, 2012 by easybullet3

[how241]

Can anyone explain to me in Janet and John language exactly what the situation regarding 3G actuall is in Thailand at the moment?

Easy , the 3G network is only onthe paper as it doesnt really work ....the 3G here is as fast as a 1G in other countries ... LOL

Is there a easy way to test the true speed?

[ballpoint]

Given this is a PTP minister, the five practices he considers unusual could be:

Transparency

Efficiency

Honesty

Social responsibilty

And anything not designed to benefit Thaksin

[NanLaew]

Can anyone explain to me in Janet and John language exactly what the situation regarding 3G actuall is in Thailand at the moment?

Easy , the 3G network is only onthe paper as it doesnt really work ....the 3G here is as fast as a 1G in other countries ... LOL

Is there a easy way to test the true speed?

Yes, go to any neighbouring country and buy a throwaway 3G SIM with a data package, surf the net and be amazed.

Then come back to Thailand and surf with any of the '3G' services here. Go make some tea while waiting for the same pages to load or paint a wall and watch it dry.

The only reason these punters like Group Captain Anudith have wangled themselves chairs on government bodies that have anything to do with mobile phones is because they saw how it made a certain man very, very rich. So rich that he could become leader and challenge the elites. So they think it's 'something' to do with mobile phones that made him so rich and they all want a bit of that 'something' but they haven't quite sussed it out if it's the brand, the batteries, the band or this 3G data thingamabob. So they will <deleted> with it relentlessly.

[kruangfaifar]

Can anyone explain to me in Janet and John language exactly what the situation regarding 3G actuall is in Thailand at the moment?

Easy , the 3G network is only onthe paper as it doesnt really work ....the 3G here is as fast as a 1G in other countries ... LOL

!G doesn't carry data does it? 3G here was a nice speed upgrade as far as I am concerned. How do you measure speed when you make comparisons? Do you use speedtest.net? Which 3G network do you use? I presume that each network AIS,True, DTAC will use different hardware and probably run at different speeds.I have no idea but I am interested in knowing

[cowslip]

so yet again the people of Thailand end up without 3G.

Both this and the last fiasco are carried out by people who clearly don't give a flying fuc_k about the people, they are only motivated by political ends and turn to the usual squabbling per obscure legal wrangling instead.

Laos has 3G throughout the country and 4G in the capital

Neighbouring countries I'm told are likewise.

Thailand however is hog-tied by a greedy elite who ae bickering over who gets to stick their finger in the pie.

quite frankly I think that any politician or civil servant who thinks this is a good course of action should be sacked immediately or better still exiled

[volk666]

When Democrats were in power they were pushing for 3G auction that would have awarded licenses to AIS and Dtac with True probably missing in the first round. CAT, True's concession owner, filed for an injunction against the auction and courts granted it.

A couple of months later CAT arranged a deal with True that bypassed the auction process altogether, now that service is legally promoted everywhere as True 3G H, it's a brand new network and service is different from the original 3G trial by the same True, they've got about a million subscribers now so simply canceling the is probably not an option.

Other providers, AIS and DTAC run 3G on a "trial" basis which means they are using their old 2G networks but they expanded the coverage greatly in the past few months. They are waiting for the new 3G auction later this year.

AIS is also partnering with its concession holder TOT in same kind of deal as CAT-True. This is how TOT (and CAT) are planning to survive in the future when they won't be able to milk AIS and Dtac.

It's not as simple as Democrats doing a favor to their donor. People who bring this point up fail to mention that Dhanin or CP (True parent company) was also Thaksin's best buddy in the old TRT days and it was his chicken that Thaksin wanted to trade for Swedish fighter jets.

Currently Dhanin is the father of PTP economic philosophy of two highs that was ideologically a no go under Democrats and would be a no go now if red shirts had any clue who they were trying to put in power.

[Crushdepth]

Nepotism, cronyism, corruption, price gouging and miscellaneous bastardry?

[Crushdepth]

so yet again the people of Thailand end up without 3G.

What's the rush ??? :-)

[Crushdepth]

Charoen Pokhand is a Democrat sponsor. We see week after week how the "clean" democrats took good care of their friends. From Sondhi who scammed creditors for billions, to Suthep with his landscam to Charoen Pokhand with it's cozy contracts. Soon the owners of the Nation will be under investigation again, maybe this time they can finish the probe.

Oh give it a rest, your conspiracy theories are lame and bloody tiresome. Are you familiar with this company at all? They are complete and utter mercenary bastards. Their political affiliation is to this: $$$$$. That's it.

[Thai at Heart]

To see the seesaw accusations that run around the telecoms business depending on which party is in power or not shows that it is probably the most corrupt of all the industries.

If ever there is a business that should be opened up to anyone to stop these cosy arrangements and create benefits for the CONSUMER instead of oligopoly profit with a good dose of government screw ups thrown in for good measure.

Well that's self-evident - just look at old squarejaw and where his squillions came from!

Remember the old cop-show adage? - "Follow the money".

the problem with that statement is j that to mess with cp is too mess with foreign business law, foreign land ownership, foreign retail law. They are the epitome of the not that long standing status quo.

[Markaew]

IMO 3G True is just a scam at the moment. 3G-T exist in the bigger cities but in the less populated areas they are advertising with big posters everywhere it's available and it's not. People are buying the packages/sims and there is no signal! The retailers are happy to sell you a phantom product. They could care less. In the case of the sims you have to buy before you try it. Hooked and screwed.

[MaiChai]

Thailand has 3G its just that they don't 'technically' have it. None of the operators can offer it legally but they all have it. Maybe its time for a 3G clampdown so someone can rape in millions.

[Payboy]

Unusual

That's stretching it a bit.

[phiphidon]

When Democrats were in power they were pushing for 3G auction that would have awarded licenses to AIS and Dtac with True probably missing in the first round. CAT, True's concession owner, filed for an injunction against the auction and courts granted it.

A couple of months later CAT arranged a deal with True that bypassed the auction process altogether, now that service is legally promoted everywhere as True 3G H, it's a brand new network and service is different from the original 3G trial by the same True, they've got about a million subscribers now so simply canceling the is probably not an option.

Other providers, AIS and DTAC run 3G on a "trial" basis which means they are using their old 2G networks but they expanded the coverage greatly in the past few months. They are waiting for the new 3G auction later this year.

AIS is also partnering with its concession holder TOT in same kind of deal as CAT-True. This is how TOT (and CAT) are planning to survive in the future when they won't be able to milk AIS and Dtac.

It's not as simple as Democrats doing a favor to their donor. People who bring this point up fail to mention that Dhanin or CP (True parent company) was also Thaksin's best buddy in the old TRT days and it was his chicken that Thaksin wanted to trade for Swedish fighter jets.

Currently Dhanin is the father of PTP economic philosophy of two highs that was ideologically a no go under Democrats and would be a no go now if red shirts had any clue who they were trying to put in power.

Another hurdle has been the changeover of the "watchdog" from the NTC to the NBTC.

The old National Telecommunications Commission had control of the countries frequencies and had set up a plan utilising some of these frequencies for 3G. They then set up the Auction for 3G licenses. However it was due to be replaced by the NBTC, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission. This body had been in the wings for a long time awaiting Royal endorsement.

True saw an opportunity to throw a spanner in the works as one of the NTC members was being investigated by the NACC. The courts decided that the NTC couldn't arrange the auction as the NBTC was tasked with reallocating frequencies and they should run the auction.

So now they got to choose which frequencies would be allocated which would ultimately have an affect on either DTAC or True as they have different methods of providing 3G and ultimately 4G (if this is not leapfrogged in the meantime).

I'm not sure if Thaksin still has shares in AIS but the Army certainly have an interest but it's not on the telecom side of things.

Historically they have had TV stations and it is likely that most development will be on the broadcasting side, not telecoms. 5 out of the 11 members of the new NBTC are top brass from the Army and they will likely want to feather their nest, so to speak. It is speculated that one of these 5 will be the new Chairman.

This is oviously a very complicated subject but I've tried to give a simplistic overview ( to add to that already posted) to the whole sorry mess.

[cowslip]

THe details in one sense are irrelevant - first one side resorts to legal action and then the other......who cares? The law in Thailand is "an ass" as they say. and so badly put together anyone an find a loophole or a fault to use against an opposing interest. (v. WFFT)

The fact remains that whilst Thailand's poorer neighbours forge ahead with 3 and 4 G the people of Thailand have to make do with a crock of shit because their leaders don't give a toss and would rather spend their time bickering amongst themselves as to whih fat cat (Pun noted) gets fatter next

[Gone]

I have had Truemove 3G for about 6 months now and was scammed into getting it. For 599 baht they told me I get unlimited 3G internet. Well it turns out that you only get 3 gigabites at the 3G speed then after that you are back onto "Edge" speed until your next billing day.although you still see the "3G" icon on the top of your iPhone.

I was using my iPhone as a hotspot to run my notebook on the internet and soon found out how fast you can use up your free 3 gigs of 3G speed (About 4 or 5 days) then you have another 26 days of slow internet at Edge speed.

Of course if you cannot read Thai when you buy the post-paid contract you wouldn't know this. I don't even know if it tells you in Thai. It's just to trick you into subscribing.

When I called they said "oh you should turn off your 3G service if you are not using it" and I said "Why would I need to do that when I have unlimited Internet for 599 per month? That's when I found out the truth.

I just up-graded to the truemove-H and you can pay an extra 400 baht (999) baht to get 4 Gigabites. What a farce !!!!!!!

Anyways the new "H" service seems a bit faster but I never bother doing speed tests in Thailand because it always pisses me off.

So beware that in Thailand "Unlimited Internet" actually means "Limited Internet nid noi"

Edited March 29, 2012 by Gone

[cowslip]

A comparison between the various 3G services will only reveal that they are ALL faulted........ this again isn;'t the pint. Thailand's population deserve 3G and if the government just stands back and lets the companies get on with it they can establish a nationwide service(s) that will then be able to ofer some workable schemes for their customers