Information and Communications Technology Minister Chuti Krairiksh has told TOT and CAT Telecom to put on hold major network investment plans pending a complete mapping of locations for the network roll-out as part of the national broadband policy.
Chuti said yesterday that the move was to promote the practice of sharing the country’s network infrastructure and reduce redundant investment among private and state agencies.
He said the state and private telecom operators would be called on some time this year to sign a memorandum of understanding on network-infrastructure sharing.
CAT planned to spend about Bt6 billion on developing a broadband service based on a fibre-optic network, while TOT planned to spend about Bt13 billion on the roll-out of the Next Generation Network (NGN).
Chuti also told CAT to suspend its planned Bt3.8-billion investment on installing software in its CDMA (code division multiple access) 2000 1-x cellular network in 51 provinces to boost its network data-transmission speed. He wants CAT first to conclude its talks with Hong Kong’s Hutchison Telecom about the takeover of Hutchison’s CDMA network in 25 provinces.
He said spending to boost data-transmission speed would be a waste if CAT failed to take over the network.
Hutchison Telecom has still not decided whether to sell its network to CAT, which wants to merge the two CDMA networks to provide a nationwide service. CAT has made an initial offer to Hutchison, though Chuti declined to reveal the amount. He said earlier that it would be less than Bt4 billion.
“If CAT fails to secure a deal with Hutchison Telecom, it will have to be aborted and CAT will have to see how it can further develop its CDMA business,” Chuti said.
He added that he had no idea if there were other companies in Thailand in talks with Hutchison Telecom as well.
Hutchison-CAT Wireless Multimedia, a 75:25 joint venture of Hutchison Telecom and CAT, leased the CDMA network in 25 provinces from Hutchison Telecom’s wholly owned subsidiary BFKT to market the service under the Hutch brand and CAT’s marketing contract.
Chuti said the TOT board had also told him that the telecom organisation would finish its terms of reference (TOR) for the plan to roll out the nationwide 3G (third-generation wireless broadband) network on the 2.1-gigahertz spectrum, worth Bt17 billion, on November 28.
The minister had ordered TOT to get the service off the ground by next April. He also ordered the state agency to revise the original TOR and include the formation of a TOT subsidiary to run a nationwide 3G service or its potential partners could have registered capital of Bt500 million instead of Bt1 billion.
He said that if TOT failed to finish the TOR quickly he would see it as meaning that someone wants him out of his post so they can change the TOR as they desire.
TOT debuted the 3G network in Greater Bangkok last December, and the Cabinet recently approved its plan to roll out a nationwide network.
