The Digital Economy and Society (DE) Ministry will set up two state enterprises to manage and operate the ICT infrastructure of TOT Plc and CAT Telecom by July, in a drive to reduce unnecessary technological duplication in the telecom industry.
The two enterprises, National Broadband Co (NBN) and Next Generation Data Centre Co (NGDC), are expected to start renting networks of the two telecom enterprises to private telecom companies by 2018.
NBN, to be operated by TOT, will manage all domestic networks of TOT and CAT and provide rental services to private companies under a wholesale model.
NGDC, to be operated by CAT, will take charge of submarine cables and data centres for both state enterprises and provide rental services locally and overseas.
DE Minister Pichet Durongkaveroj said the development is in line with the State Enterprises Policy Commission's directive that TOT and CAT combine their businesses in order to maximise use of network assets and generate new revenue streams.
The two new enterprises are expected to attract global tech and telecom companies to invest in cloud computing and servers in Thailand, while promoting the country as a hub of digital infrastructure in Asean, Mr Pichet said.