The national telecom regulator is urging the government to replace existing power cables with underground lines in order to remove the clutter of overhead utility wires and ease excess loading.
Foreign tourists pass a tangle of overhead power lines on Khao San Road. Officials have proposed putting all power, telecommunications and broadcasting cables underground. NATTAPOL LOVAKIJ
All existing overhead power, telecommunications and broadcasting cables should be grouped into a single platform below ground, said Takorn Tantasith, secretary-general of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).
The initiative is aimed at preventing the possible collapse of concrete power poles as they carry an excessive load of utility lines, Mr Takorn said after meeting 40 telecom licensees and three state electricity authorities yesterday.
"Laying all lines underground will also pave the way for the development of a digital economy, as more and more telecoms and broadcasting companies need to expand their network coverage to serve the policy," he said.
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA) is on the verge of laying its power lines and cables underground after starting the project in 2011.
The project has proceeded step by step with no disruption, an MEA source said.
Mr Takorn said having power lines placed underground improved the scenic beauty of cities.
He said most telecoms and broadcasters rented cement poles from the MEA and the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) to lay their telecommunications wires, cables and optical fibre lines together with the electricity authorities' power lines.
Under Section 39 of the Frequency Allocation Act, telecom licensees have the right to negotiate with any companies to lay their network lines.
But the state electricity enterprises have denied requests from telecoms wanting to rent their poles to lay lines, as the state agencies say their poles can no longer support the weight of new lines.
The MEA said it had started laying electric lines underground in some areas on a trial basis and could not allow any more networks on top of its poles.
Mr Takorn said a resolution on the underground power grids must be reached soon, as the dispute posed a threat to the government's digital economy policy.
He said telecoms and broadcasting firms had agreed in principle that the government should ask prospective state authorities, especially the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), to oversee the issue and jointly invest with the private sector.
Tens of billion of baht will be required for construction of an underground system, Mr Takorn acknowledged.
He said the BMA would be the most likely authority to take responsibility for the project, as it has the authority to grant permission for activity in Bangkok.
TOT Plc and CAT Telecom are other potential partners that could jointly invest in the underground project.
The NBTC will hold its next meeting in mid-February before submitting a proposal to the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) for consideration, Mr Takorn said.
The NCPO may have to enact a new law to carry out the project.
The law would see to it that all relevant parties moved in the same direction.