Looking back on the two years since taking office in October 2004, the National Telecommunications Commission's seven members believe they have accomplished certain feats but confess there are areas that need to be improved and that there is still a long way to go.

As the two-year anniversary of his job looms, NTC chairman General Choochart Promphrasid admitted running the regulator had been a tough job for a high-ranking soldier like him, as he was used to having things done with a decisive bark of command.

At the NTC, he said, he had to patiently listen to the telecom operators' problems before making any decisions, which explains why it can take time for the NTC to issue a regulation. Moreover, the general said he and the commissioners had frequently had to reach compromises while debating hot issues.

However, this ability to compromise seems to have stood Choonchart in good stead and helped him carry out his job well.

When the NTC commissioners took office their main role was to create fair competition in a market of vested interests.

In its first year, telecom operators criticised the NTC for its slow progress in reforming the market. Lately TOT Plc's labour union charged the NTC with imposing a high regulatory cost on the company, which is one of its licensees.

While refusing to counter the union's charge, Choochart said the NTC had tried to do its best. He acknowledges the NTC's 400 officials still need more training and need to change their bureaucratic style of working into a more service-oriented one in order to better serve the licence applicants.

All the NTC's officials are from the state-run Post and Telegraph Department (PTD), which was morphed into the NTC's office two years ago. Of all the commissioners, Sethaporn Cusripituck and Rianchai Reowilaisuk know best about frequencies, given that both were directors-general of the PTD, which had overseen the national frequency management.

Sethaporn drafted the characteristics of all the NTC's telecom licence types and initiated the new national numbering policy, besides being chairman of the panel that approved licence awards.

"I'm happy with the NTC's performance. No one in the government ever asks us to do something in his or her favour," he said. He is currently drafting the satellite and the 3G broadband cellular business licences.

Sethaporn said the major obstacle was the absence of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), which makes it unclear to the NTC when it can grant the new spectrums. Under the frequency law, the NTC and NBC have to jointly allocate the telecom and broadcasting spectrums.

Rianchai's job is determining the goals the NTC has to achieve in each year. When asked which area the NTC needed to improve, he said it had to be more decisive in order to speed up the working process.

Sudharma Yoonaidharma, outspoken NTC member and the commission's legal expert, has focused on promoting the NTC's credibility and accountability standards. He initiated the NTC's policy of evaluating the effects of its regulations on the industry. "We're the only independent body with a policy of assessing the impacts of our regulations," said the Harvard Law School graduate.

He also initiated the NTC code of disclosing its official documents and board-meeting minutes to the public in order to show its transparency.

Artorn Chandavimol's job benefits people in remote areas as he runs the NTC's Universal Service Obligation (USO) fund policy.

The policy requires the licensees to allocate 4 per cent of their annual revenue to the fund if they fail to create the telecom service in remote provincial areas. In this way the NTC can use the fund to hire another firms to create the telecom services in such areas.

A former director of the Non Formal Educational Department, Artorn said his USO fund had already selected 10,000 villages across the country and brought in TOT and CAT, which had both agreed to invest in telecom services for remote areas, to develop their telecom infrastructure.

"The project is expected to be completed within the next three years," he said.

Artorn admitted it had not been easy for commissioners with different backgrounds to quickly agree on all issues but said this was a normal problem.

Suchart Suchatvejapoom has overseen the NTC's general works. The former director-general of the Public Relations Department also helps Artorn manage the USO fund.

Prasit Prapinmongkolkarn, who was professor of Chulalongkorn University's Engineering Faculty, has brought his knowledge to the NTC when it comes to forming technology-related policies.

Prasit is pushing the NTC to develop licensing regulations for Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) to allow phone calls on the Internet. Currently the NTC's Internet licences can automatically offer the VoIP service but only from PC to PC and from PC to phone.

"People may think I haven't done anything, because my style is to deliver the policy and let the officials implement it," Prasit said.

While four of the commissioners will carry on in their roles, three of them have to leave office next October: in line with the regulation that three commissioners must be replaced by ballot every third year.