The national telecom regulator will resume its strict examination of the foreign shareholding proportions of the three major mobile operators next week to ensure foreign ownership remains restricted in the telecommunications sector.
Commuters riding the Bangkok skytrain keep busy with their mobiles. Thailand’s telecom regulator is eager to get on with scheduled 4G-spectrum auctions this year. PATTARAPONG CHATPATTARASILL
The move sends a clear signal the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) wants to move ahead with its planned auctions of two telecom spectra to provide fourth-generation (4G) mobile broadband service, as the auctions have been temporarily suspended by the junta.
While some see the move as a direct attack on Total Access Communication (DTAC), the regulator insists it does not have a hidden agenda, saying it is the NBTC’s duty to examine the shareholding structures of potential bidders.
The move is also aimed at preventing foreign companies from dominating the local telecom market, said NBTC vice-chairman Col Settapong Malisuwan.
He said the NBTC would press the three mobile operators — AIS, DTAC and True Move — to provide updated details of the share ownership structures of all their
subsidiary companies as well as the number of foreign executives in management positions and the voting rights of shareholders.
“We asked the three operators to discuss the matter with us on July 24 in letters we sent today,” he said Wednesday.
Section 4 of the Foreign Business Act sets the ceiling on foreign shareholding to 49% for a Thai telecom, out of consideration for national security.
Telecom operators cannot bid for a licence in auctions if their ownership is in breach of the Act’s foreign ownership section.
Col Settapong repeated the claim that the harsh scrutiny was to avoid foreign dominance in the telecommunications sector.
“It’s our duty to investigate the shareholding structures of telecoms each year and provide updates on shareholding information. In turn, operators are required to provide their updated shareholding structures annually,” he said.
He insisted the probe had nothing to do with Telenor’s previous Facebook allegations.
“We just want to get ready for when the National Council for Peace and Order gives the green light to move ahead with our 4G-spectrum auctions,” said Col Settapong.
Last month, the NBTC lashed out at DTAC’s Norwegian parent, mobile operator Telenor, and asked it to clarify a company statement regarding an alleged order by the regulator to block Facebook.
The regulator said DTAC’s statement had caused extensive damage to the NBTC’s image and insisted the Facebook blackout was due to technical glitches and not an executive order to block it.
The regulator set up a committee to examine the shareholding of DTAC and the proportion held by Telenor, its major shareholder.
In a related development, the NBTC’s board acknowledged that military national security agencies had agreed to return some slots of telecom spectra to the NBTC, ranging from 790-960 megahertz and 1710-1880 MHz.
The return of these frequencies is scheduled to be completed over the next five years, depending on spectrum bandwidth.
The move will allow the NBTC to start reallocating frequencies for commercial purposes rather than security purposes.
The NBTC’s subcommittee overseeing spectrum allocation has worked together with military authorities for a number of years.
NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith said the military national security agencies planned to use other spectrum ranges for security operations.