TOT could lose licence over 1133 rift
The national telecoms regulator has threatened to revoke the licence of TOT if the state agency continues to charge for its 1133 directory enquiry service.
Choochart Promphrasid, chairman of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), which controls the TOT licence, will meet company bosses next week to tell them again to stop the charges. If TOT has still insists to continue charging for the service, the NTC may have to use the last resort by revoking its telecom license."We hope the problem can be solved by the talks," Choochart said. The NTC told TOT to stop the Bt3-per-minute charges because as a public service, it should be free and subsidised. TOT refused and said that it wanted to improve its performance in response to tougher competition stemming from an influx of foreign telecom operators into the market. Many of those firms are looking to partner with the local players. TOT's board decided in 1999 to charge for the 1133 service although the charges were only introduced last month. Most NTC board members are of the opinion that TOT has to offer the service free of charge and subsidise the service for its consumers. NTC said incumbent operators in many countries had to provide a free enquiry service, unlike smaller operators, to create fair competition between the major and small players. Usanee Mongkolporn The Nation
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