The telecom regulator will engage a consultant to help it set the new interconnection rates. National Telecommuni-cations Commission (NTC) chairman Choochart Promphrasid said the commissioners had made the decision yesterday.

The consultant will evaluate the proposed interconnection tariffs submitted by telecom operators and come up with recommendations.

Some telecoms have already submitted to the NTC proposed inter-network charges, formulas used to calculate them and their network costs.

The NTC also instructed its staff to urge TOT Plc and CAT Telecom Plc to turn in their proposals quickly.

Both state agencies had to propose their rates within 15 days after the NTC's interconnection regulations were published in the Royal Gazette on May 17.

TOT did not propose any rates, while CAT said the NTC should impose interim rates until CAT could work out the final ones.

The new rules will require telecoms to share voice and data revenue on calls between their networks.

The interconnection tariff consists of rates for call termination, origination and transit.

A termination rate will be paid by the outgoing call's carrier to the service provider at the receiving end.

An origination rate will be paid by the receiving carrier to the carrier that originates a call. This fee will apply to CAT, which must share international-call revenue with telecom operators that transfer the their subscribers' calls to CAT's gateway.

A transit rate will be paid by the outgoing call's carrier to an intermediate carrier - currently TOT - that switches a portion of the calls crossing different networks.

Advanced Info Service (AIS) proposed a termination rate of Bt1.07 per minute, while both Total Access Communication (DTAC) and True Move filed for Bt1 per minute.

All three backed the same origination rate: Bt3 per minute.

AIS called for a transit rate of Bt1 per minute, while DTAC requested 50 satang per minute, True Move 20 satang per minute and True Corp Plc Bt1.25 per minute.

Usanee Mongkolporn

The Nation