4G delay looms with threat of TOT labour union lawsuit against govt

TOT may be allowed to develop a 4G network to avoid lawsuit by TOT & labour union. TOT currently operates 3G broadband with only 100,000 subscribers.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

4G delay looms as TOT labour union threatens to sue govt 

16/10/2015
Adapted from Komsan Tortermvasana article

The labour union and management of the state telecommunications enterprise TOT are on the verge of taking legal action against the telecommunications regulator over the coming 4G auction.

The 4G auction planned for Nov 12 may be delayed as a result of this legal action.

This information was provided by a high-ranking source at Thailand's telecommunications regulator,  the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), who asked not to be named.

As a strategy to placate TOT and its labour union, TOT may be allowed to develop a 4G network.

TOT currently operates a 3G broadband service but has only 100,000 subscribers.

TOT also holds 64 MHz of bandwidth on the 2300-MHz spectrum that are unused.

"The proposal to allow TOT to operate 4G on the 2300-MHz band is meant to ease conflict between the TOT and NBTC over the 4G spectrum auctions," the source said.

The root of the conflict lies in spectrum ownership claims made by the state enterprise .

TOT's labour union has claimed the regulator NBTC has no authority to auction the 20 MHz of bandwidth because TOT still has the right to operate the frequency after its concession with Advanced Info Service (AIS) expired on Sept 30.

If TOT operated a 4G network, it could earn more revenue following the expiration of the AIS concession.

However, even if the proposal was approved, the source believed TOT would still take legal action against the planned 4G auctions, the source said.

STATE ENTERPRISE REFORM

In a related story, speaking at the Post Forum yesterday, Banyong Pongpanich, a member of the State Enterprises Policy Commission, said state enterprises controlled 12 trillion baht in assets and an annual investment budget of 5.1 trillion baht, or twice that of the government budget.

"State enterprises control a huge portion of the country's resources, whether it be in monopoly rights or national resources," he said.

But returns are meagre, showing the inefficiency of most of these organisations.

Mr Banyong said those state enterprises that do make profits mostly do so as a result of monopoly power, while companies that do compete with the private sector, such as Thai Airways International, TOT Corp or the State Railway of Thailand, all face significant competitive pressures from private companies in the markets they operate in.

Mr Banyong said under planned reforms, state enterprises would be required to increase transparency and disclosure, overhaul the selection process for their board of directors and separate regulatory powers from operations.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/731608/govt-says-reforms-key-to-future

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/telecom/731840/ict-proposes-4g-network-for-tot

สามารถฝึกอ่านออกเสียงและดูคำแปลได้ที่ : http://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/learning-from-news/732620/4g-delay-looms-with-threat-of-tot-labour-union-lawsuit-against-govt