The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) Tuesday ordered second-ranked mobile operator Total Access Communication Plc (DTAC) to pay tens of millions of baht in fines for its repeated defaults to comply with telecommunications law.
The move came in the wake of DTAC's fifth network collapse since late last year.
The latest failure occurred at 11am Tuesday morning before normal service resumed in the afternoon. Some 130 million mobile users of all operators were affected by the service disruption.
The NBTC Tuesday called on DTAC executives to clarify the situation.
Secretary-general Takorn Tantasit warned DTAC it will not be able to avoid paying the maximum penalty for its repeated network failures.
"We want to fine DTAC at the highest rate so that hopefully this problem won't keep recurring. Even if the fine reaches 100 million baht, DTAC will just have to pay it," said Mr Takorn.
The exact amount will be calculated next week at a minimum rate of 500,000 baht a day, equal to the amount levied against Channel 3 for its recent bare-breasted painter segment on its Thailand's Got Talent show.
DTAC will also be required to offer special services as further compensation, said Mr Takorn.
The NBTC earlier ruled that DTAC's network failures could not happen again if it was to remain in compliance with Section 33 of the Telecom Business Act of 2001. Section 33 stipulates telecom operators maintain a high quality of network service for customers.
Mr Takorn said DTAC cannot appeal since it already accepted the warnings.