Court drops 3G bombshell

[bigdelta 46]

By Usanee Mongkolporn

The Nation

 

Injunction order says licence auctioneer NTC itself in transition; Planned auction on Monday hinges on NTC's appeal today against verdict

 

The Central Administrative Court has hampered hopes for the long-overdue 3G (third generation) telecom development in Thailand in the near future with a bombshell injunction on the licence auction scheduled to kick off on Monday.

 

In a 16-page verdict, the court reasoned that if the auction was allowed to proceed as scheduled by the National Telecom Commission (NTC), it would lead to a number of obstacles because the NTC itself is currently in a transition period, awaiting the creation of a new regulatory body.

 

The NTC will today appeal against the court's decision, and hope for a quick, favourable verdict, without which Monday's bidding would need to be called off.

 

NTC commissioner Natee Sukonrat said the telecom body will appeal today. If the court accepts the appeal, the NTC will go ahead with holding the auction on Monday as planned. If the court rejects the appeal, the NTC will stop all auction activities. This could mean a considerably lengthy delay as the establishment of the National Broadcasting and Telecom Commission hinges on a bill awaiting parliamentary approval.

 

The licence auction is scheduled to take place at Evason Hua Hin and Six Senses Spa hotel from September 20-27, with two 3G licences up for grabs at a starting price of Bt12.8 billion per licence.

 

The court's verdict put Information and Communications Technology Minister Chuti Krairiksh in the hot seat and dealt a severe blow to the country's three major telecom firms - AIS, DTAC, and True - which were all set to bid for the lucrative licences. Chuti last night said it was "my fault" to have failed to prevent CAT Telecom, an agency under his watch, from seeking the court's injunction.

 

Citing the 2007 Constitution, the court said there would be a new regulatory body called National Broadcasting and Telecom Commission (NBTC) soon with the powers to oversee both the broadcasting and telecom sectors.

 

To avoid creating future trouble for the NBTC, the court said, the NTC's plan to auction the 2.1G radio frequencies for the 3G mobile services should be suspended.

 

A bill to set up the NBTC is now pending in the House of Representatives following key amendments made by the Senate.

 

The House of Representatives is expected to set up a joint committee with the Senate to consider the proposed legislation, which was earlier expected to be enacted by the end of this year. The joint deliberation could last long, and Chuti himself seemed uncertain if the auction could be called within next year or bidders will have to wait until next year.

 

Observers believe the planned NBTC is unlikely to be functioning until the middle of next year at the earliest when all commissioners are appointed.

 

Although the NTC was given provisional power to fill the void as the country awaits the setting up of the NBTC, telecom analysts blame the NTC for having waited too long. They said that with NBTC close to coming into existence, the current NTC would be perceived more and more as lacking the authority to auction the licences.

 

One analyst also warned that if the 3G auction is postponed for an extended period, telecom operators might not invest more on the existing networks as they have to transfer their network assets to the state concession owners TOT and CAT under the Build-Transfer-Operate (BTO) when their concessions end.

 

The concessions of TrueMove, AIS, and DTAC will end in 2013, 2015, and 2018 respectively.

 

Thana Thienachariya, head of corporate affairs and strategy of Total Access Communication, declined to comment on the matter, pending the company's examination of the court order. But he is concerned that the industry would be affected if the auction is delayed.

 

Wichien Mektrakarn, chief executive of Advanced Info Service, said the NTC has to hurry with its appeal. What the private telecom operators can do is wait and see if the court will accept the NTC appeal.

 

Supachai Chearavanont, True Corp chief executive, said he was disappointed by the court's verdict, but hoped the NTC could make the appeal successfully.

 

"If the auction is delayed indefinitely, the country will lag behind in terms of technology adoption."

 

Information and Communications Technology Minister Chuti Krairiksh said he is confident the 3G auction would take place within this year. He added that the government has supported the development of the 3G technology.

 

In a petition filed with the court, state-owned CAT Telecom said the NTC's planned auction was unlawful and could financially affect its concession revenues.

 

The telecom operators that can obtain the licences will migrate the customers from the state concessions to the licences to save regulatory cost.

 

CAT estimated that the state agency would lose Bt15 billion as a result of customer migration to the licences.

 

As regulator, the NTC insisted that it had followed international standards in designing the auction, and had carefully studied the various pros and cons.

 

The auction would benefit the entire telecom industry by promoting greater competition, adding that the NTC acknowledged, however, that this would adversely affect any currently dominant entities that could not improve their efficiency.

 

Justification for the injunction

 

- The court views that the auction could affect the work of the upcoming National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission.

 

- There is no spectrum allocation master plan

 

- The court will also ask the Constitution Court to rule if the NTC has overall regulatory authority under Section 305 of the 2007 Constitution

 

- The court views that granting an injunction now will affect only three bidders. If the auction takes place and later the Constitution Court rules that the NTC's authority is against the 2007 Constitution, this could lead to possible bigger impacts to the related parties.

 

- According to the court, the injunction will not affect the NTC work and the public telecom service as there are already two 3G telecom operators, TOT and CAT Telecom, and the network of existing private telecom operators have already covered nationwide.

 

 

-- The Nation 2010-09-17

[joekicker 53]

I'm actually shocked that people call this a "surprise", which some do. Legally, CAT and TOT are on very solid ground and these cases have been threatened and discussed and analysed for at least two years. Yes, it's the last minute, but there's no real suprise. I'd be shocked (and still could be in the next couple of days) if the court does NOT rule the way it ruled. There's another case and an appeal all coming in a mad weekend.

 

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[englishinsiam 15]

There will be no 3G in Thailand for the next 12 months as I've always said.

 

The govt have fucked this up the same way they fuck everything else up.

 

Maybe those of us that bought 3G phones here should sue the govt as a collective.

[joekicker 53]

There will be no 3G in Thailand for the next 12 months as I've always said.

 

Wow. Why not go out on a limb? If those licences were auctioned on Monday as scheduled, or if those licences are auctioned around 2015 -- makes little difference to your "prediction".

 

Technically there IS 3G "in Thailand" now, if you're in exactly the right spot and have just the right contract and hold your mouth right. But full 3G service all over Thailand like the current 2G is always at least a year away. You've basically "always said" that tomorrow is likely to be hot.

 

You want to take a chance, and live by it, tell us when the first 3G auction will be. Monday? December? Next year?

 

.

[englishinsiam 15]

Wow. Why not go out on a limb? If those licences were auctioned on Monday as scheduled, or if those licences are auctioned around 2015 -- makes little difference to your "prediction".

 

Technically there IS 3G "in Thailand" now, if you're in exactly the right spot and have just the right contract and hold your mouth right. But full 3G service all over Thailand like the current 2G is always at least a year away. You've basically "always said" that tomorrow is likely to be hot.

 

You want to take a chance, and live by it, tell us when the first 3G auction will be. Monday? December? Next year?

 

.

 

Depends when the backhanders are all agreed.

 

Some people in govt will get very rich from this deal.

 

I think the Auctions will go ahead early next year. Then it'll take another 6-8 months to get it all up and running. We will not see 3G openly in Pattaya for 12 months. Of that I am very sure.

 

There is actually no 3G in Thailand as they legally can't sell it over the 'mobile' network legally. I think it's designated to buildings in BKK and thats it. Same as trues 50 Meg Broadband it's only in certain condo/office blocks in BKK

[joekicker 53]

I think the Auctions will go ahead early next year. Then it'll take another 6-8 months to get it all up and running. We will not see 3G openly in Pattaya for 12 months. Of that I am very sure.

 

There is actually no 3G in Thailand as they legally can't sell it over the 'mobile' network legally. I think it's designated to buildings in BKK and thats it. Same as trues 50 Meg Broadband it's only in certain condo/office blocks in BKK

 

Early next year. All right!! A braver man than me. I lean toward "never", simply because I would never take a bet against the TOT/CAT and I don't see how they can get dealt in on this 3G in an acceptable (to them) way. Legally, they have an excellent case in my opinion, although a lot of people are "surprised" so I guess some people disagree. You read the last two constitutions, tell me where the NTC can give out bandwidth, regulate new technologies. I can't find it. I think that TOT/CAT are odious AND correct. And that's why Mayor Abhisit is promising to get the NTSB up and running because that IS the body designated by the supreme law.

 

No, there is real 3G in nooks and crannies of Bangkok and Chiang Mai. You can subscribe through a virtual supplier like Samart. But to call it "limited" is giving a lot of credit.

 

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[englishinsiam 15]

Early next year. All right!! A braver man than me. I lean toward "never", simply because I would never take a bet against the TOT/CAT and I don't see how they can get dealt in on this 3G in an acceptable (to them) way. Legally, they have an excellent case in my opinion, although a lot of people are "surprised" so I guess some people disagree. You read the last two constitutions, tell me where the NTC can give out bandwidth, regulate new technologies. I can't find it. I think that TOT/CAT are odious AND correct. And that's why Mayor Abhisit is promising to get the NTSB up and running because that IS the body designated by the supreme law.

 

No, there is real 3G in nooks and crannies of Bangkok and Chiang Mai. You can subscribe through a virtual supplier like Samart. But to call it "limited" is giving a lot of credit.

 

.

 

This is the problem when the state owns part or all of a telecoms supplier.

 

BT were the same but luckily they are now forced to compete with more streamlined companies. Although the other companies still have to use BT's end pipes from the local exchanges so BT will always get guaranteed revenue on Landline traffic.

 

The sad thing about Thailand is the backward thinking and protection of their elite is always going to drag them down. I mean in the modern world a so called emerging economic giant not having 3G. Thailand are the laughing stock of the Modern world.

 

Bumbling along like Buffaloes is quite sad.

[joekicker 53]

The sad thing about Thailand is the backward thinking and protection of their elite is always going to drag them down.

 

Gentlemen, we have a red shirt in our midst!!! It's okay, so long as there aren't four more.

 

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[FatherMojo 2]

From what I understand all the mobile companies pay a fee to pass through CAT's networks which earns CAT 15 billion baht per year. Once 3G is set-up, the other carriers (AIS, True, DTAC), will no longer need to pass through CAT's networks reducing CAT's revenue by 15 billion baht. Obviously 15 billion baht is a nice piece of change and CAT is doing everything it can to hang to that money as long as possible.

 

 

 

FatherMojo

[joekicker 53]

From what I understand all the mobile companies pay a fee to pass through CAT's networks which earns CAT 15 billion baht per year.

 

No, but you're on the right track. TOT (the original "telephone organisation of Thailand") and later on, CAT, control ALL telecom operations in a "duopoly". And the proposed formats for 3G will cut them out, wholly or partially. They don't like that. PLUS by strange coincidence they have the law on their side like state firms and state monopolies everywhere.

 

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[englishinsiam 15]

Gentlemen, we have a red shirt in our midst!!! It's okay, so long as there aren't four more.

 

.

 

 

haha I sounded like a See Daeng for a moment but I definately am not.

 

But the problem is there for all to see.

 

The simple solution is let Cat and Tot have a free licence to operate with 3G and give them a portion of the licence fee from their competitors.

[joekicker 53]

The simple solution is let Cat and Tot have a free licence to operate with 3G and give them a portion of the licence fee from their competitors.

 

I wish it WAS so simple. They don't want to operate and they don't want to compete. They want to rent the licences, like they do with 2G.

 

The only 3G currently available is provided by experimental setups by TOT and CAT Telecom. They want to rent it, not market it. These are massive, huge cash-cow operations which suck 20 to 50 satang of every 2-baht mobile call you make, and in return they provide... well, nothing really.

 

.

[englishinsiam 15]

I wish it WAS so simple. They don't want to operate and they don't want to compete. They want to rent the licences, like they do with 2G.

 

The only 3G currently available is provided by experimental setups by TOT and CAT Telecom. They want to rent it, not market it. These are massive, huge cash-cow operations which suck 20 to 50 satang of every 2-baht mobile call you make, and in return they provide... well, nothing really.

 

.

 

 

Sounds about right

 

Todays auction has been called off as expected. The courts have said they will give a decision on Thursday on the Auction situation.

 

One of the experts on BBC news said it will probably be 4-6 months before the auctions take place.

 

Stuck in the dark ages

[lovedog100 1,372]

Supreme Administrative Court rejects NTC's appeal against 3G injunction

 

The Supreme Administrative Court Thursday upheld the lower court's injunction against 3G auction.

 

The Supreme Administrative Court rejected the NTC's appeal against the injunction by the Central Administrative Court on ground that although 3G auction is for public interest, it must be legitimate.

 

The injunction is in place until the Central Administrative Court will finish the judicial review of the complaint against the auction filed by CAT Plc, which accused the NTC of lacking authority to auction off the licenses.

 

 

-- The Nation 2010-09-23

[bigdelta 46]

Some funny (true) responses from another site:

What a backwards country we are living in. By the time they sort this out, Laos and Cambodia will be on 4G. Absolutely zero interest in the wellbeing of the public.

Welcome to Amazing Thailand!

 

Bureaucracy, greed, corruption and fear always stops progress.

 

I think we need a foreigner prime minister with full arm body guard to take Thailand out of the stone age.

 

We already have a foreign PM LOL

 

3 G coming to you NEXT DECADE

 

Thats another 3-4 year wait with all the asociated damage to investment and development. Still at leats the bureacrats of CAT and TOT get to keep all their perks, exalted position and the status quo at the expense of everyone else in the country.

 

Oh and of course the opportunity to extend access to information to areas where there are no land lines, ie poor areas, is delayed for another age or two which will no doubt please the dinosaurs

 

I think the country should say the auction is for 10G so that by the time comes when the public ACTUALLY gets the system, it WILL be 10G. Plan ahead dummies.

[joekicker 53]

The whole 3G epic is ... well, epic. It reveals all sorts of things about Thailand, and in a nutshell that everyone can quickly grasp.

 

But really, it's been made into a whole that is WAY bigger than the sum of its parts. A country without 3G is hardly "in the dark ages". So Thailand doesn't have 3G and Apple smartphones make great paperweights and it takes 30 seconds to check your email via BlackBerry instead of 10 seconds. So what, really? So you have to load last night's soap opera on your iPad to watch it, instead of watching it live on the BTS. Is that really "the dark ages"?

 

Some good and snide comments, but that's a SILLY comment about "extend(ing) access to information to areas where there are no land lines". What does 3G have to do with that? Mobile phones in Thailand have MORE than 100% penetration rate, and all TV broadcasts are available by satellite. 3G would not extend access by a metre beyond what it is now.

 

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[jacko 8,866]

The whole 3G epic is ... well, epic. It reveals all sorts of things about Thailand, and in a nutshell that everyone can quickly grasp.

 

.

That is your best point there and it made me nod my head.

But denying your own populace a development in technology purely to protect self interest is 3rd World.

Nevertheless Thailand does seem to progress quite well, heaven knows where they would be without their politics, perhaps a second Japan...

 

I would love to be able to plug a 3g dongle into my computer and dispose of the hopeless 0-1Mb telephone line TOT deign to permit me to pay for.

I can't get their maintenance to resolve my issues or even attend my residence, but there were 3 trucks parked infront of a nearby restaurant for 2 hours yesterday .... no wonder they don't get anything done!

[joekicker 53]

That is your best point there and it made me nod my head.

But denying your own populace a development in technology purely to protect self interest is 3rd World.

 

No "but" about it. That *is* the point, there really is no other. As I say, a microcosm of what has long, long held Thailand back. I have to get in my own commercial by noting it is entirely a government thing, the telecoms duopoly being state firms. If it were a capitalism thing, we'd have had 3G ahead of the US.

 

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[englishinsiam 15]

That is your best point there and it made me nod my head.

But denying your own populace a development in technology purely to protect self interest is 3rd World.

Nevertheless Thailand does seem to progress quite well, heaven knows where they would be without their politics, perhaps a second Japan...

 

I would love to be able to plug a 3g dongle into my computer and dispose of the hopeless 0-1Mb telephone line TOT deign to permit me to pay for.

I can't get their maintenance to resolve my issues or even attend my residence, but there were 3 trucks parked infront of a nearby restaurant for 2 hours yesterday .... no wonder they don't get anything done!

 

Change your internet to True and dispence of the phone line altogether.

[joekicker 53]

Change your internet to True and dispence of the phone line altogether.

 

Went over my crewcut! Internet without a phone line? Actual real Internet, like WITH a phone line?

 

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[jacko 8,866]

Change your internet to True and dispence of the phone line altogether.

How do 'True' get the internet into the home then?

I ask as I went to see them at the Pattaya Nua Tesco place and they said they could do nothing regarding my area!

Edited September 25, 2010 by jacko

[englishinsiam 15]

We have an internet cable coming straight from the phone mast into the house.

 

Maxnet can do it too but my experience with them says keep well away.

 

More than happy with True I have the 8 Meg Premium offering at about 1,200 Baht a month.

[jacko 8,866]

We have an internet cable coming straight from the phone mast into the house.

 

Maxnet can do it too but my experience with them says keep well away.

 

More than happy with True I have the 8 Meg Premium offering at about 1,200 Baht a month.

Is this a coaxial cable, fibre optic or a telephone line (2 core)?

Maxnet (now 3bb?) was TT&T....... I had that at my previous house.

 

I am well out of town now and sadly there is no coverage by True here.... that is why 3g over the mobile phone network appealed to me as a solution to getting away from the awful TOT! I do have Sophon cable TV out here and there was rumour of them supplying internet over their coaxial network... I haven't specifically asked but believed it would be 'tested' in central areas.

Edited September 25, 2010 by jacko