The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) says it will scrap the auction results for a 13.6-billion-baht rural fibre-optic network if the project fails to meet the budget transparency standards of the Office of the Auditor General (OAG).
The universal service obligation (USO) project is aimed at connecting more than 3,920 villages through a fibre-optic network in order to bridge the digital divide in rural areas.
The NBTC held an electronic auction on Aug 1-2, in which the project was divided into eight zones nationwide. The winning bids totalled 12.9 billion baht, 4.5% lower than NBTC's budgeted 13.6 billion.
The OAG sent a letter to the NBTC office suggesting that the commission halt the project, said NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith.
The letter also asked the NBTC to transfer the USO budget to the Digital Economy and Society Ministry's development fund.
The project, the letter went on to say, would be assigned to TOT, the state telecom enterprise.
The OAG said its suggestion is in line with the cabinet's resolution passed last year, said Mr Takorn.
Regardless of the content of the letter, the NBTC board still believes it is still fully responsible for bridging the digital divide in rural areas, and thus in full control of the USO budget.
"The 2010 Frequency Allocation Act (FAA) dictates that the NBTC is the sole operator of the USO project," said Mr Takorn. "The 2017 FAA (Amended FAA), however, indicates that the NBTC must transfer the USO budget to the development fund if it is unable to make progress on the project."
While the winning bids were 624 million baht lower than the original budget, he said the auction was conducted with transparency.
Six bidders joined the recent August auction. TOT and True Corporation won the bids to build on three zones each. CAT Telecom and Interlink Telecom won the bidding for the remaining two zones.
"The NBTC will submit a letter to the OAG this week to clarify the issue," said Mr Takorn. "If the OAG still believes the NBTC wrongly used the USO budget, we are ready to scrap the result of the auction and hand in the money to other agencies."
The 13.6-billion-baht project is projected to be completed by the second half of 2018, and will provide fibre-optic networks, WiFi hotspots and mobile access nodes to over 3,920 border villages in 62 provinces nationwide.
The NBTC said broadband networks will be installed in 600 villages (15% of the total) by year-end. By next April, the commission's project is forecast to reach 2,000 settlements.
The broadband internet network installed will run at speeds of no less than 30 megabit per second (Mbps).
The winners of the project have to provide super cheap packages to the villages as alternatives encouraging low-income people to access broadband internet services.
Previously, the NBTC set up super-cheap broadband service in border villages, which were divided into three promotional packages: 50 baht per month for 10 Mbps speed, 150 baht for 15 Mbps, and 200 baht for 20 Mbps.