Panel: TOT should negotiate with DTAC
The national telecom regulator's dispute-settlement committee ruled early this week that the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) should order TOT to nego-tiate with Total Access Communica-tion (DTAC) on an interconnection deal.
DTAC entered into the committee's dispute process with TOT on February 13, following TOT's refusal to enter into negotiations for the interconnection agreement with DTAC. TOT is the NTC's licensee. NTC chairman Choochart Phromprasid said the NTC would next Monday consider whether to follow the committee's ruling. DTAC, True Move and Digital Phone have paid access charges to TOT for connecting different networks via TOT's facilities. The state agency has gained total access fees of about Bt14 billion per year. But DTAC and True Move ceased paying the access charge last November and have turned to the NTC's interconnection regulations instead. This is to comply with the NTC's regulation system. Last week, TOT and CAT Telecom decided to sue DTAC and True Move over their refusal to pay the access charge. TOT says the two cellular operators' total unpaid access charges are now Bt7.5 billion. The interconnection charge requires telecom operators to share voice and data revenues between the two networks involved in a call. Telecom Reporters The Nation
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