TOT's new phone lines 88% installed
TOT has finished 88 per cent of a project to install 565,000 fixed telephone lines across the country.
The state agency held a press conference yesterday to reveal the progress of the project, which should have been completed last August after starting in 2005. Colonel Natee Sukulratana, a board member, said the project should be finished in two months. Last month the Information and Communications Technology Ministry ordered its three state telecom agencies to consider blacklisting companies that fail to complete projects within deadlines. Siemens and a consortium of Ericsson won contracts worth Bt2.03 billion and over Bt3.65 billion respectively from TOT to install 565,000 lines, of which 74,000 will be in greater Bangkok. Siemens is responsible for Bangkok and the Northeast, while Ericsson is handling the Central region, the South and the North. TOT has already fined the two firms a combined Bt500 million for delays. It has paid 15 per cent of the project's value to both companies. TOT would consult with the Attorney-General's Office today about paying Bt750 million to both firms for its request to make changes. Its answer is expected within the next two weeks. Usanee Mongkolporn The Nation
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