Panel on BFKT case gets 30 more days

The NBTC's telecom committee yesterday gave its panel another 30 days to examine if BFKT had violated the telecom law.

The panel had already submitted its conclusion to the telecom board that BKFT (Thailand) had "violated the law" by leasing network equipment without telecom licence, but the telecom board yesterday deferred considering the case citing the need for more detail.

NBTC commissioner Suthiphon Thaveechaiyagarn said the panel had to focus on making clear its definition of "telecom operation".

The board also asked the panel to take into consideration the preliminary conclusion of the Senate anti-corruption committee that BFKT appeared to violate the telecom law.

"We saw that there were some conflicts in some aspects, so we would like them to probe more," Suthiphon said.

BFKT is a subsidiary of True Corp, which had a contract between CAT and True to offer 3G - 850MHz services

The NBTC last June ordered CAT and True to revise six clauses in their contracts to bring them into complete compliance with the Frequency Allocation Act. The new contracts must show that CAT has sole control over its own spectrum. CAT and True signed a memorandum of understanding on December 4 last year to amend the contracts.

True subsidiaries Real Future and Real Move, and CAT in 2011 agreed to cooperate to provide third-generation cellular service on the 850-megahertz spectrum. Real Future's BFKT has rented the network equipment to CAT to wholesale and resell 3G bandwidth. CAT has wholesaled the bandwidth to Real Move.