Dtac urges TOT to sign

Chief executive Tore Johnsen said yesterday that DTAC is in a position to sign this week, and assumes that TOT will also do so.

DTAC recently sent TOT the interconnection agreement for signature, following an order by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) on January 9 that both parties immediately enter into the agreement and that the interconnection agreement shall cover all 18 million mobile-phone numbers currently under DTAC's operation.

TOT senior executive vice president Weera Kongchareon said TOT needed, however, to consider the legal aspects and ask its board to consider the matter before making any decision.

According to the NTC order, if DTAC and TOT fail to sign the agreement within 10 days, whatever DTAC and TOT have previously agreed - plus the ruling by the NTC on disputed issues - will become valid until the actual interconnection agreement is inked.

TOT originates traffic of about 22 million minutes a week to DTAC, while DTAC originates traffic of around 18 million minutes a week to TOT. DTAC has agreed to pay an interconnection fee of Bt1.25 minute to TOT, while TOT will pay Bt1 per minute to DTAC.

The NTC interconnection regulations, which were imposed in 2006, mandate the network of the caller to pay an interconnection fee to the network of the recipient.

DTAC asked TOT on October 2006 to enter into negotiations but the state agency declined to do so, citing that DTAC is not an NTC licensee. DTAC took the case to the NTC, which last June ordered TOT to enter into negotiations with DTAC.

The two parties then reached an agreement on the interconnection rates, but TOT declined to apply the rates to all DTAC's mobile-phone numbers, prompting both to ask for an NTC ruling on the case.