NBTC approves draft rules to curb profiteering by mobile operators

BANGKOK: -- The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has approved a draft profiteering rule that may mandate private operators to bill consumers on telecom tariffs in accordance with actual time used or what is called per-second billing.

The draft rule was worked out by the Office of the NBTC and approval by the NBTC commission.

A public forum is needed to be called to sound out opinions from all relevant agencies before it is forwarded to the Natiional Legislative Assembly for passing into law.

A NBTC commissioner Mr Pravit Leestapornwongsa said however that the draft rule does not mandate private mobile operators to use per-second billing but it defines practices by operators that are considered profiteering.

But he said that the draft rules would be put for debate at the public forum and if there should have a further amendment, the proposed per-second billing might be defined in the rule.

He said that the per-second billing is one of the proposed reform in the telecom industry forwarded to the National Legislative Assembly.

The NLA asked the NBTC to order mobile phone operators to charge telecom tariffs on their consumers in accordance with the actual time used or to apply per-second billing as at present operators simply charge tariffs per minute.

Per minute charging is considered profiteering particularly when call time is not in full minute but will be charge in full minute by the operators, the NLA said.

It also said that if per-second billing is accepted, it could save consumers over 3 billion baht/month in telecom tariffs.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/nbtc-approves-draft-rules-curb-profiteering-mobile-operators

-- Thai PBS 2014-12-26

Well done.

What about 3G packages at edge speed of 64Kbps?

Or the advertisement of 4G where it's not actually 4G, but an improved 3G ?

"it could save consumers over 3 billion baht/month in telecom tariffs."

Nice one and well done.

​That will allow 3 billion baht a month to be saved by the consumer to alleviate the household debt that is creeping up and up or can be spent in stimulating the economy other ways.

The amount of time my wife spends on the phone that will also save me a small fortune.

Now to reduce the price at the fuel pump, but with that said the world average diesel price is 1.09usd a litre while Thailand came in at 0.89usd a litre.

Edited December 26, 201411 yr by djjamie

"it could save consumers over 3 billion baht/month in telecom tariffs."

Nice one and well done.

​That will allow 3 billion baht a month to be saved by the consumer to alleviate the household debt that is creeping up and up or can be spent in stimulating the economy other ways.

The amount of time my wife spends on the phone that will also save me a small fortune.

Now to reduce the price at the fuel pump, but with that said the world average diesel price is 1.09usd a litre while Thailand came in at 0.89usd a litre.

The amount of time my wife spends on the phone that will also save me a small fortune.

Sounds like the perfect marriage. You spend all your time on Thaivisa and Madame is on her mobile device!!

"it could save consumers over 3 billion baht/month in telecom tariffs."

Nice one and well done.

​That will allow 3 billion baht a month to be saved by the consumer to alleviate the household debt that is creeping up and up or can be spent in stimulating the economy other ways.

The amount of time my wife spends on the phone that will also save me a small fortune.

Now to reduce the price at the fuel pump, but with that said the world average diesel price is 1.09usd a litre while Thailand came in at 0.89usd a litre.

The amount of time my wife spends on the phone that will also save me a small fortune.

Sounds like the perfect marriage. You spend all your time on Thaivisa and Madame is on her mobile device!!

555555

It is a match made in heaven.

When I am not on thaivisa though it is the PS4 or time with the kids.

Edited December 26, 201411 yr by djjamie

WOW, I must be getting old!!

But here we go:

Well done to the government!!

Not going to make the shareholders in the SHIN companies happy!!

Quite amazing really when you think about it, 5 baht here and 7 baht there, adds up to 3 billion baht a month!!

And those money have the telecom companies been stealing from their customers for years!!

"it could save consumers over 3 billion baht/month in telecom tariffs."

Nice one and well done.

​That will allow 3 billion baht a month to be saved by the consumer to alleviate the household debt that is creeping up and up or can be spent in stimulating the economy other ways.

The amount of time my wife spends on the phone that will also save me a small fortune.

Now to reduce the price at the fuel pump, but with that said the world average diesel price is 1.09usd a litre while Thailand came in at 0.89usd a litre.

The amount of time my wife spends on the phone that will also save me a small fortune.

Sounds like the perfect marriage. You spend all your time on Thaivisa and Madame is on her mobile device!!

A question for the moderators. This comment may seem funny to some, but what does it add to discussion about the topic? And why do readers who are seriously interested in Thai news have to waste our time reading this kind of drivel?

"it could save consumers over 3 billion baht/month in telecom tariffs."

Nice one and well done.

​That will allow 3 billion baht a month to be saved by the consumer to alleviate the household debt that is creeping up and up or can be spent in stimulating the economy other ways.

The amount of time my wife spends on the phone that will also save me a small fortune.

Now to reduce the price at the fuel pump, but with that said the world average diesel price is 1.09usd a litre while Thailand came in at 0.89usd a litre.

The amount of time my wife spends on the phone that will also save me a small fortune.

Sounds like the perfect marriage. You spend all your time on Thaivisa and Madame is on her mobile device!!

A question for the moderators. This comment may seem funny to some, but what does it add to discussion about the topic? And why do readers who are seriously interested in Thai news have to waste our time reading this kind of drivel?

What exactly was your contribution to the topic on hand??

Lighten up!!

"it could save consumers over 3 billion baht/month in telecom tariffs."

Nice one and well done.

​That will allow 3 billion baht a month to be saved by the consumer to alleviate the household debt that is creeping up and up or can be spent in stimulating the economy other ways.

The amount of time my wife spends on the phone that will also save me a small fortune.

Now to reduce the price at the fuel pump, but with that said the world average diesel price is 1.09usd a litre while Thailand came in at 0.89usd a litre.

The amount of time my wife spends on the phone that will also save me a small fortune.

Sounds like the perfect marriage. You spend all your time on Thaivisa and Madame is on her mobile device!!

A question for the moderators. This comment may seem funny to some, but what does it add to discussion about the topic? And why do readers who are seriously interested in Thai news have to waste our time reading this kind of drivel?

Bah Humbug!

Just sue the < deleted > for promising a certain speed (and reliability) and yet never delivering. AIS 3G (for example) is nothing like what they promise, I got better speeds in the UK a decade ago.

Quite amazing really when you think about it, 5 baht here and 7 baht there, adds up to 3 billion baht a month!!

And those money have the telecom companies been stealing from their customers for years!!

Actually nothing was stolen. You signed a contract and paid voluntarily according to that contract. No one forced you to sign or to pay.

In any case, odds are they will comply with the new rules and then increase prises slightly to counter the 3 billion loss.

Further, if you have a look at the profits of the major 3 telecom companies (total 38 billion in 2013), you will know that the "3 billion baht a month" statement is a mistake (36 billion/year), unless of course their entire business and profit is based on overcharging on the last minute of a conversation. It should probably have been 3 billion per year and even that sounds way too high.

BTW, you call them "SHIN companies" in a post above. I assume you refer to Shinawatra, so just want to let you know that the Shinawatras are no longer involved in any of the major telecom companies in Thailand. They sold all their shares years ago.

Edited December 27, 201411 yr by monkeycountry