ICT minister vows TOT will proceed with 3G roll-out

This was despite recent suggestions it wait for the telecom regulator's rules for the upcoming 3G auction.

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has yet to finalise its rules to auction off four 3G 2.1-gigahertz licences, nor has it cleared any possible legal obstacles to its authority to grant them.

Ranongruk insisted the ICT Ministry had final authority over TOT's plan.

State-owned TOT is scheduled to kick off its 3G 2.1GHz wireless broadband service on December 3 on its existing network in the greater Bangkok area.

It also plans to roll out its new 3G 2.1GHz network nationwide, with 3,800 base stations.

Ranongruk said TOT's 3G-network roll-out had nothing to do with the NTC's plan to auction the 3G licences and that the two issues should not be mixed together.

The NTC role is to grant the spectrum licences, but TOT already has its own 3G spectrum.

"We will not stop. We have our own clear stance, so TOT will move ahead with its 3G plan, because it already has a 3G-network business plan," Ranongruk said, adding that the project was consistent with government policy on national telecom development and widespread access to services.

Initially, TOT was to spend Bt29 billion on the network, but this was scaled down to Bt20 billion. Once operational, the network will be leased on a wholesale basis to telecom operators, so they can provide services.

TOT finished the terms of reference to procure the 3G network equipment for its new 3G network nationwide roll-out. It will invite interested firms to buy the bid documents at the end of this month, with bidding to be finished next April.

The complete network roll-out will take two years.

Meanwhile, Policy Watch, a group founded by lecturers at Thammasat University's Faculty of Economics to monitor government policies, proposed the NTC make sure its planned 3G-licence auction bring maximum benefit to consumers.

It also proposed if 3G operators migrate customers from the state concessions to their 3G licences, they be subject to excise tax, with the amount equal to their concession fee.

That would discourage them from migrating customers from concessions to 3G licences if they can obtain a licence from the NTC.

Many parties have opposed the NTC's 3G licensing on the grounds the licences would pave the way for private mobile concessions to migrate customers from the concessions to the licences, in order to save on regulatory costs. Their concession fees average 25 per cent of their revenue, while the annual licence fee would cost them only 6.5 per cent.

Policy Watch also proposed the NTC wait for the Senate to appoint four new NTC commissioners before holding the auction.