The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) says the fate of Thailand's broadcasting industry is in the hands of the Council for Democratic Reform (CDR), following yesterday's ruling by the Supreme Administrative Court upholding the earlier annulment of the selection process for members of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).

The court turned down an appeal by the Prime Minister's Office by upholding a lower-court decision to nullify the process of selecting 14 candidates for seven seats on the NBC, saying the process was unconstitutional.

Later, NTC chairman Choochart Promphrasid said not having the NBC will further delay reform of the broadcasting industry and allocation of telecom and broadcasting spectra.

The Frequency Allocation Act provides that both the NTC and the NBC must prepare a master plan for spectrum management, allocate broadcasting and telecom frequencies and prescribe rules for using the frequencies.

Last November, the Central Administrative Court nullified the selection process for 14 candidates for NBC seats, prompting a fresh selection process. The ruling was made after the Senate had chosen seven of the 14 to be NBC commissioners.

Later, the PM's Office, which appointed the selection committee, appealed to the upper court against the ruling.

Thongchai Kuasakul, who was earlier appointed NBC chairman, reportedly suggested yesterday that the CDR use its powers to appoint seven NBC commissioners immediately, or else the broadcasting industry would suffer further delays.

Under the old rules, the selection process for new NBC commissioners could take another year.

An industry source said the CDR should assign the NBC's job to the NTC. Choochart declined to comment on that suggestion.

The inability to appoint the NBC has made it unclear whether the NTC will be able to go ahead and award some new telecom licences, such as those to operate the long-awaited third-generation (3G) broadband cellular services.

The NTC commissioners are divided on the matter. One group wants to proceed; the other says that to do so would put the NTC at risk of violating the Frequency Allocation Act.

Telecom operators are eager for licences to offer 3G technology, enabling them to provide bandwidth-hungry, high-speed services like video-calling. The new technology will not only open the door to a range of fanciful new services, but also give their revenues a substantial boost.

Choochart said that despite the uncertainty, the NTC would go ahead and prepare a 3G-licensing draft and then wait until the situation allowed it to grant the licences.

Usanee Mongkolporn

The Nation