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Published on February 20, 2008

It will meet soon with telecom companies including Advanced Info Service (AIS), Total Access Communication (DTAC), True and Hutch, Commerce Minister Mingkwan Sangsuwan said yesterday.

He said he recently met with DTAC executives to float his idea. The company agreed to decrease service charges as a gift to consumers facing rising living costs.

"Other enterprises will also agree to decrease their service fees after the meeting," said Mingkwan.

The meeting will take place on Friday, along with another ministry meeting with 250 food, beverage and consumer-goods manufacturers.

The ministry wants to convince them to decrease or freeze retail prices this year.

DTAC chief commercial officer Thana Thienachariya said his company needed to learn more details from Mingkwan but was willing to support the policy.

He said one way would be to reduce the price of post-paid SIM cards, which now cost about Bt150.

AIS president Wichian Mektrakarn said he needed to see more details from the minister.

One telecom industrialist said cellular operators might ask the minister to ask their concession owners to reduce concession fees, allowing them to pass on the benefit to consumers with reduced call rates.

A True Move source said the company would take this opportunity to ask its state concession-owner to cut its fee.

Mobile-phone calls are currently charged at a rate of about Bt1 per minute. There are about 50 million mobile-phone subscribers in Thailand.

Mingkwan said many enterprises in other sectors, including fresh food and hospital services, should also agree to decrease prices, because most were enjoying high margins despite higher production costs.

However, he reaffirmed the plan to bring down prices of consumer goods would not affect manufacturers, because it would be based on "fair conditions" agreed between the ministry and companies. He has already ordered the Internal Trade Department to study the production costs of 30 items. The ministry will report the results of the study soon and explore how private enterprises can reduce their retail prices painlessly.

Petchanet Pratruangkrai

Sirivish Toomgum

The Nation