NTC moves to boost broadband internet market

The measure is aimed at encouraging them to lower the broadband service fee for subscribers and those small Internet businesses that have leased their networks to provide the service.

NTC deputy secretary-general Pitjapol Jantanasaro said the measure would take effect on January 1 and last for four years. He estimated that firms' combined licence costs would decline by Bt200 million per year as a result of the change.

Under the measure, licence holders can deduct revenue from broadband Internet service and/or leasing networks to small Internet service businesses from their overall revenue, and then calculate their licence-fee payment on the remainder.

If their total revenue is from broadband Internet service or network leasing to small Internet businesses, this means they will not have to pay any licence fee.

The fee for a type-3 licence is 2 per cent of the holder's total revenue. Type-3 licences are for businesses with their own large networks.

Pitjapol said the measure would encourage the major broadband Internet service providers and network providers to lower the service fee for subscribers and network customers, which would spark growth in the broadband Internet market.

TOT targets 1 million broadband Internet subscribers by year-end, up from the current 870,000. True Corp and Triple T Broadband each currently has almost 700,000 subscribers.

Pitjapol said the NTC board had also ordered officials to seek ways to cut regulatory costs for holders of type-3 licences for fixed-line telephone service - namely, TOT and CAT Telecom.

He said one possible measure was for the NTC to lower the fee for fixed-line telephone numbers, which currently stands at Bt1 per number per month.

TOT and CAT pay a fixed-number fee for their private concessions, given that both owned the phone numbers before the NTC's inception. TOT owns about 7 million telephone numbers nationwide.