Under-siege NBTC needs to stand aloof

[Lite Beer]

EDITORIAL
Under-siege NBTC needs to stand aloof
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Telecom and broadcasting regulator must maintain its independence

What is it that's suppressing what should be a huge public hue and cry over the Prayut Chan-o-cha administration's plans to impose controls on the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission?

The complaints should be deafening. The interim government is attempting to turn back the clock to a more restrictive time, and yet its usual critics seem content in this matter, or at least resigned.

The NBTC was established three years ago in the face of strong resistance from the politicians in power and the industry itself. No one wanted to see the changes that such a national watchdog would bring. For them it meant ceding the power to allocate telecom and broadcasting frequencies.

Subsequent governments controlled by Thaksin Shinawatra opposed the idea of setting up the NBTC for obvious reasons. In fact, despite their overwhelming majority in Parliament, they shunned every opportunity to fulfil one of the most important requirements of what had been "the People's Constitution". And Thaksin was, after all, a telecom tycoon.

Rather than forming an ostensibly independent regulatory body, the Thaksin regime established a Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, a readily controlled entity that could handle issues affecting Thaksin's Shin Corp in a way that suited him best. The military wasn't happy with the NBTC concept, either.

It held the exclusive rights to several of the broadcasting frequencies and made sure that "telecom security" was irrevocably associated in voters' minds with national security.

So the envisioned "liberalisation" of the telecom and broadcasting industries, ingrained in the 1997 Constitution, would clearly benefit no one in power.

The concept became part of the charter due tocivic concerns about abuse by the powerful, and because of the noble idea that the frequencies belonged to the people as a whole.

The NBTC was established against all odds. Its major tasks - the auctions of 3G telecom licences and digital TV licences - have been carried out amid considerable controversy, since big-name players still hold sway and newcomers find it hard to make any inroads.

Further controversial has festered over the commissioners' salaries and perks. Direct and indirect payments to the commissioners are not perceived as matching their contributions. The commissioners should have done a lot better, so to speak.

Yet the idea of reining them in by re-introducing political control will defeat the very fundamental concept of the NBTC.

Political control has proved counter-productive when liberalisation of the telecom and broadcasting business is concerned. And vested interests complicating politicians' decisions on the future of the industry have often led to corruption. It could be blatant money-under-the-table corruption or so-called "policy corruption", a term that features in the ongoing political crisis of Thailand.

Problems plaguing the 3G and digital TV auctions showed that our NBTC requires much improvement. But, also, they remind us how politically problematical the telecom and broadcasting industries still are, and how the problems can accumulate if politicians are, again, allowed even a slice of the cake.

There are ways to handle the NBTC problems without chipping away at its independence. Rules and regulations could be introduced limiting salaries and addressing other concerns.

Checks and balances could be tightened without the slightest need for politicians intruding on the commission's work.

Thailand would be better off with a more accountable NBTC, and worse off with a less independent one.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/Under-siege-NBTC-needs-to-stand-aloof-30255020.html

-- The Nation 2015-02-28

[rametindallas]

The NBTC has created its own little fiefdom and they control the gates to the frequencies the telecoms want. They have a huge headquarters building and no oversight of any kind. Thailand, under the NBTC, was behind Laos and Cambodia in getting 3G phone/internet service and are dragging their feet on implementing the more efficient and faster 4G; the telecoms and Prayut are ready now and they say maybe in the new year. They botched the auction of 3G frequencies and didn't get enough bidders nor high enough bids to meet the posted minimums. I smell something rotten. If it wasn't for the power of the NCPO to hold their feet to the fire, they would be content to let the pressure build up so they could charge more; under the table, of course. With the AEC beginning at the end of the year, Thailand needs to move fast just to catch up.

Yet the idea of reining them in by re-introducing political control will defeat the very fundamental concept of the NBTC.

I wouldn't call the NCPO exactly 'political' since they didn't run for office as politicians do so this could be a one-off. The new Constitution should address the need to motivate the NBTC to move Thailand forward and not sit on their asses power structure, seemingly doing nothing.