The move follows difficulties experienced in making connections among mobile-phone users for calls within the same network and to different networks in recent few weeks, due to congestion from heavy call promotions.

NTC telecom expert Pitjapol Jantanasaro said yesterday the subcommittee would be made up of representatives from the Office of the Consumer Protection Board and telecom experts.

"The NTC is approaching qualified persons to join the subcommittee," he said.

The regulatory body also plans to purchase equipment to monitor the quality of calls on all cellular networks, he said.

NTC commissioner Sudharma Yoonaidharma said the equipment would enable his agency to monitor the real-call traffic of cellular operators itself, instead of just relying on reports of the traffic.

Pitjapol said three major private operators - Advanced Info Service Plc (AIS), Total Access Communication (DTAC) and True Move - had agreed to a joint expansion this year of the capacity of their direct network connections by 140,000 circuits.

True Move and AIS will expand the capacity of their direct network connections by 9,000 circuits this month and another 15,000 next month, while DTAC and AIS will jointly expand capacity by 6,000 this month and another 10,800 in July. One circuit can handle one call.

Pitjapol said DTAC and True Move claimed that their subscribers had experienced no problems connecting to each another and therefore saw no need to boost their direct-link capacity.

AIS has more than 16.6 million subscribers, DTAC 10 million and True Move almost 5 million. All cellular networks connect to one another through TOT Plc's gateways and separate direct links.

Usanee Mongkolporn

The Nation