Firms challenge draft plans for NBTC

At a public hearing yesterday on the draft law, many industry representatives sought revision of a clause authorising the Information and Communications Technology Ministry to appoint 10 commissioners for the new body.

They said they regarded this as political interference in the establishment of the new regulator.

Moreover, they disagreed with a proposal the NBTC should appoint its own committee to evaluate its performance.

The new independent body will regulate the telecom and broadcasting sectors, both of which have huge vested interests.

Under the proposed selection process for NBTC commissioners, relevant parties will be invited to submit a combined list of 20 representatives for the ICT Ministry's consideration. The ministry will select 10 of them as commissioners and forward their names for Cabinet approval.

A Total Access Communication representative questioned how fair competition between the private sector and state telecom agencies could be assured if the regulator's commissioners were appointed by the government.

Commissioners for the existing National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), which will be replaced by the NBTC, have been appointed by the Senate. The government invited relevant organisations, from ministries to educational institutes, jointly to set up an NTC selection committee, which then chose 14 candidates from all walks of life. From these, it then selected seven candidates for Senate approval.

Broadcasting and radio representatives opposed a clause in the draft law banning candidates from becoming NBTC commissioners if they are or have been an executive, employee or shareholder of a broadcasting or telecom businesses in the past five years.

They said the licensing body needed commissioners who had experience and understanding of the industries.

ICT Minister Mun Patanotai told the hearing he expected the new telecom and broadcasting regulator to be ready for operations next March. He expected to have a final draft law next month before forwarding it to Parliament.