NBTC caves in to CAT demand !!!

 

The national telecom regulator will allow CAT Telecom to use
the unused bandwidth of the 1800-megahertz spectrum to
provide its own fourth-generation (4G) service in exchange
for dropping its lawsuit to stop Wednesday's spectrum auctions

The telecom committee of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) is expected to

 approve the state telecom enterprise's proposal Tuesday

 to use 20 MHz of bandwidth on the 1800-MHz spectrum,

 now owned by Total Access Communication Plc (DTAC),

 an NBTC source said.

 However, the regulator will grant CAT only three years to

 provide 4G service on the spectrum instead of the 10 years it

requested, as CAT's concession with DTAC is due to

expire in 2018.

 "The approval will help CAT to create a new revenue stream,"

 the source said.

CAT has threatened to file a lawsuit against the NBTC over

 Wednesday's 1800-MHz spectrum auctions for almost a month.

The state telecom last week told the NBTC it wanted to use

the unused bandwidth, claiming it still had the right to hold

 the spectrum until 2025 after the 2G concession with DTAC

 expired in 2018.

 It claims it was awarded the right to hold the entire 75 MHz

 of bandwidth for the 1800-MHz spectrum until 2025 by

 the now-defunct National Telecommunications Commission.

"We have neither the authority to allow CAT to

mobile service on the spectrum after the expiry of the

concession nor the power to extend the concession period to

DTAC," the source said.

 Under the Frequency Allocation Act, the NBTC has the

authority to reallocate spectra after the expiry of a concession

 only through an auction.

Col Sanpachai Huvananda, CAT's acting president, earlier

 said the state telecom would still take legal action against

 the NBTC over the auction if the regulator allowed it to use

 the unused bandwidth only until 2018.

 However, the NBTC source said the telecom committee

 believed CAT's management executives would not take legal

 action against the regulator since the auctions had been widely acknowledged as a benefit to the government.

All ICT-related industries will benefit from 4G service too.

 "Opposing the auctions could severely damage the country,

 the Thai people and the telecommunications industry,

" the source said, adding that CAT must thoroughly consider

the impact before filing a lawsuit.

 The source also said the draft auction design for the 1800-MHz

 spectrum passed the public hearing process and became an

 official draft in June.

 This means any opposition or disagreement with the auction

design for the spectrum had to be filed in court by September

 or three months after the official draft was announced.

 "Therefore, any moves against the NBTC or the auction

design are illegitimate, unreasonable and weak, as both

 CAT and TOT acknowledged the auction draft five months

 ago," the source said.

Sungvorn Poontian, president of CAT's labour union, said

 his union was still waiting for a formal resolution from

the company board before taking any action against

 the NBTC.


Business,Telecom,Bangkok Post,10 November  2015.

 

As the draft auction design for the 1800-MHz spectrum passed
 the public hearing process and became an official draft in June.

So any opposition or disagreement with the auction design

the spectrum had to be filed in court by September or three

months after the official draft was announced.

 

In my opinion the time has passed for CAT to make lawsuit

against the NBCT.

 

Hope every parties have conclution for the benefit of

the country first in the final.

 

Sincery Yours.