Maximum cellular call rate of 99 satang

The telecom committee of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission is expected to approve soon a new maximum mobile-phone service call tariff of 99 satang per minute, which is aimed at making cellular operators lower their rates.

Operators that will be required to adopt the new rate are those defined by the NBTC as significant market players (SMPs), that is, the ones with market shares above 25 per cent.

The NBTC has defined Advanced Info Service (AIS) and Total Access Communication (DTAC) as SMPs in the cellular service sector.

AIS and DTAC had respective market shares of 43 per cent and 30 per cent last year, according to the regulator's study.

TrueMove last year had a share of around 24 per cent. Once its market share exceeds 25 per cent, it too will become an SMP and have to adopt the new maximum call tariff.

The agency is considering whether it should combine the market shares of TrueMove and Real Move when deciding if TrueMove should be regarded as an SMP, said an NBTC source. Both companies are in True Corp's cellular business group.

NBTC member Pravit Leesatapornwongsa said the new tariff would make cellular operators further lower their promotional airtime rates, especially those charged for the first minute of a call.

In some promotional packages, operators charge customers Bt2 per minute during the first minute and then a lower rate, for example, 50 satang per minute, for subsequent minutes. However, if the new maximum call tariff of 99 satang per minute comes into effect, they will no longer be able to charge Bt2 for the first minute.

The present maximum mobile-phone service call tariffs, which were introduced by the Cabinet in 2006, are Bt3, Bt8 and Bt12 per minute, depending on the call distance.

According to the NBTC study, the average call fee of DTAC during the first nine months of last year was 76 satang per minute, followed by TrueMove at 67 satang and AIS at 54 satang.

The average call fee of AIS in 2010 was 71 satang per minute, while the average for both DTAC and TrueMove was 66 satang.

The regulator has calculated that the appropriate call rate for AIS should be 71 satang per minute, with 99 satang for DTAC and Bt1.76 for TrueMove. The calculations are based on each company's rate of return.