Takorn Tantasith has been officially appointed to continue in a second five-year term as secretary-general of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).
The NBTC board approved the appointment on Wednesday by unanimous vote at a meeting on an undisclosed agenda.
Mr Takorn's first five-year term as secretary-general is set to end on Jan 4, said ACM Thares Punsri, chairman of the NBTC board.
But the existing 10 members of two committees -- five each in charge of the telecom sector and broadcasting -- will have to resign after serving full six-year terms that end in October 2017.
Mr Takorn, 56, is the most suitable person for the job, ACM Thares said, especially given his prominent roles in cooperating with the military government and the Digital Economy and Society (DE) Ministry to promote the digital economy policy.
Mr Takorn said he appreciated the board's appointment.
Even though the term is for five years, Mr Takorn said he will resign the post immediately when the new NBTC commissioners are seated after the amended NBTC draft bill takes effect -- probably by this year-end.
The bill stipulates the NBTC will not be dissolved. But its management and operational structure will be reformed, with the number of commissioners reduced to seven from 11.
The two existing committees, telecom and broadcasting, will be dissolved to enable a flexible decision-making process.
Mr Takorn said it is too early to predict when the recruitment process for new NBTC members will conclude. But the existing commissioners can continue working until their replacements are named.
In other news, the NBTC yesterday officially determined the starting price for the country's first auction of 16 VIP and auspicious mobile phone numbers slated for Nov 27.
The starting price for the most coveted numbers, 099-999-9999 and 088-888-8888, is set at 20 million baht each.
The remaining 14 numbers are set at 6 million baht each. They are 090-000-0000, 091-111-1111, 092-222-2222, 093-333-3333, 094-444-4444, 095-555-5555, 096-666-6666, 097-777-7777, 098-888-8888, 061-111-1111, 062-222-2222, 063-333-3333, 064-444-4444 and 065-555-5555.
The auction is expected to generate at least 100 million baht in revenue for the state.
Mr Takorn said the NBTC will publicise the mobile number auction directly to over 700 SET-listed companies, along with informing the public using news tickers on specific TV programmes.
At least four prospective companies have expressed an interest in bidding, he said. Some companies have said they want to bid on the lucky mobile numbers for use as their call centres because they are easy to remember and reflect prosperity and wealth.