Eyes are now on whether the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) board will reverse its stance on having the authority to regulate telecom infrastructure funds through a licensing regime, following disagreement by some board members.
So far, the existing telecom infrastructure funds listed on the stock market have never applied for telecom licences from the NBTC, although the regulator told them before being listed that they needed to have licences for their operations.
According to a source at the NBTC board who requested anonymity, some board members disagreed with the rule, which they said could take a toll on the prices of funds' units, held by individual investors.
The enforcement of the licensing regime now will also raise doubts as to why the NBTC has never done it before despite having had the resolutions for that, the source said.
Some board members suggested a way out by proposing the waiving of some costs, such as the universal service obligation (USO) fee and annual fee related to revenue sharing, for telecom infrastructure funds to ease their concerns about being regulated by the NBTC, the source said.
In June, the NBTC board assigned its management to draft a regulation governing telecom infrastructure funds as they are regarded as telecom operators under the type 3 telecom operation licence, which involves those having their own telecom networks.
The draft, which was completed in October, contains accommodative elements for the telecom infrastructure funds, such as waiving the USO fee and the annual fee.
However, the board has not yet approved the draft although it has been submitted for consideration twice.
The board only agreed to pass it to its legal advisory subcommittee to seek more opinions.
The source said that telecom infrastructure funds are subject to supervision by the NBTC under both the Telecom Business Act and the amended NBTC Act.
"The amended NBTC law gives the NBTC the role to regulate those telecom infrastructure funds," the source said.
There are three telecom infrastructure funds listed on the SET, comprising Digital Telecommunications Infra Fund (DIF), formally known as TRUE Telecommunications Growth Infra Fund (TRUEIF); Jasmine Broadband Internet Infra Fund (JASIF); and INET Leasehold Real Estate Investment Trust (INETREIT).
The source said these funds' prospectuses for offering never mentioned the NBTC office's role in regulating them and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may partly be to blame for that.
NBTC board member Prawit Leesathapornwongsa said any doubts about whether these telecom infrastructure funds have to be regulated by the NBTC need to be cleared up to ward off any mistakes in the future.
The issue should be submitted to the Council of State for consideration, according to Mr Prawit.
If the NBTC eventually rules telecom infrastructure funds are not subject to supervision by the NBTC through a licensing regime, another concern may be raised about whether the operators that own telecom infrastructure may seek to block other carriers from using their telecom infrastructure, which could hinder fair competition, according to Mr Prawit.
There is also a risk of security issues if foreign investors hold an important proportion of the funds' units, Mr Prawit said.
If the NBTC board decides to rule it that way, it would have to pass a new resolution to cancel its previous resolutions.
Pisut Ngamvijitvong, an analyst at Kasikorn Securities, said the SEC regulation indicates that any infrastructure funds must not be the operating licensees of any agencies, but only the owners of related assets.
If the NBTC takes steps to force the telecom infrastructure funds to seek licences, it could spark confusion about different obligations from different regulations, he added.