CAT Telecom Plc's labour union yesterday publicly attacked the company's board of directors, blaming the board for decisions that have lead to lost business opportunities and diminished competitiveness.

The union presented a petition to the Finance Ministry, as a shareholder of CAT Telecom, asking it to evaluate the board of directors' performance and devotion.

"They [the directors] are not devoted to CAT Telecom, as they meet only once a month. That has led to delays in many significant programmes, such as the company's reorganisation, which has been delayed by a year, and procurement contracts which could not be approved on schedule," said union chief Watana Iambamrung.

He said CAT's board had not yet approved a roaming service that was first considered in 2004 and several other projects worth a total of Bt5 billion.

The union also raised concerns about the ongoing dispute between CAT Telecom and Hutchison Wireless Multimedia Co Ltd (Hutch).

It said that on December 21, 2005 the board resolved that a joint marketing contract between the two organisations was illegitimate. But, it still required revenue sharing - an action that could land CAT Telecom in trouble if, for instance, Hutch filed a lawsuit that led to the abolition of CAT Telecom's plans for Hutch's network.

CAT Telecom plans to link its CDMA mobile phone network, covering 51 provinces, with that of Hutch so that the service is more extensive and value is added to its communications network.

"That the problem between the two organisations remains unsolved is not good for the plan to launch the CDMA service in 51 provinces," the union said in a three-page statement issued to employees who gathered in front of the agency's headquarters yesterday.

"Eventually, CAT Telecom will gain nothing from its Bt10-billion investment." The union said.

Another worrying issue lies in the board's decision to allow Prolink International Co Ltd to operate a VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) service without a thorough inspection of the contract, the union said.

"CAT Telecom has lost potential revenue of more than Bt1 billion from the contract," Watana said. "Given these cases, the shareholder [the Finance Ministry] should step in to thoroughly investigate the performance of the board of directors."