NTC's licence fees on the rise

Of the 2008 total, Bt2.416 billion is expected to be from the major telecom licence fee and Bt1.033 billion from the number fee. A much lower Bt126 million is expected from radio-frequency licence fees and Bt61 million from radio-communications licence fees, with the rest coming from other sources, according to a source at the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

In 2007, the NTC gained Bt1.459 billion from the major telecom licence fee, Bt1.091 billion from the number fee, Bt136 million from the radio-spectrum licence fee and Bt85 million from radio-communications licence fee.

In 2006, the NTC made regulatory revenue of Bt3.332 billion.

The NTC, which is a non-profit organisation, will transfer the regulatory revenue to the state coffers after its administrative expenses. In October 2008, the Cabinet approved a bonus payment for the NTC's commissioners. The bonus is a fixed 0.5 per cent of the NTC's annual total regulatory revenue but must not exceed Bt300,000 per commissioner per month.

The NTC had seven commissioners at its inception four years ago. One of them resigned in 2006.

The NTC requested the bonuses from the Cabinet in 2006. The Cabinet approved them in October last year.

In a separate matter, the NTC will allow the applications for and the payment of some licences - such as licences to import telecom equipment - via online channels for the convenience of applicants.

The NTC plans to extend online application to type-1 licences.

The type-1 licence is for those without their own telecom network, whose competition does not affect the public on a large scale, such as Internet service-providers and international calling-card distributors.

The NTC recently extended the validity of the type-1 licences to five years from one year.