NTC awards two new telecom licences
The board of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) yesterday awarded Internet service provider CS Loxinfo Plc a licence to operate an international Internet gateway service.
The licence is in the type-2 category, which is for applicants with or without their own networks.Earlier the national telecom regulator's board awarded a similar licence to Sky Office, a newly founded subsidiary of True Corp Plc, and the data-network provider Advanced Datanetwork Communication, a joint venture owned by TOT Plc and Advanced Info Service. Yesterday the board also gave a licence to a company named Sip to offer an Internet-based calling service. The NTC also approved a plan by TOT and CAT Telecom Plc jointly to create a telecom service in 6,000 villages and 4,000 districts under the NTC's Universal Service Obligation (USO) policy. Under the USO fund, if an NTC licensee declines to promote telecom services in remote areas, they must pay 4 per cent of their annual revenue to the fund. The NTC will use the fund to hire a company to develop the services instead. Both TOT and CAT agreed to promote telecom services in remote areas, instead of paying the USO fund. The state agencies have to install two numbers of any telecom service firm in each of 6,000 villages and one number in each of 4,000 districts. They must finish the project in the villages in 30 months and the districts in 24. Usanee Mongkolporn The Nation
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