The Digital Economy and Society Ministry has assigned state telecom enterprise National Telecom (NT) to develop a cloud managed platform (CMP) as a central portal where state agencies can access the services of any cloud provider, as there is strong demand among these agencies for this kind of service.
Nattapon Nattasomboon, the ministry's deputy permanent secretary, said the ministry recently allocated 600 million baht of its 2024 investment budget for NT to develop the CMP. The budget is awaiting approval from the House of Representatives.
Mr Nattapon said the existing Government Data Center and Cloud (GDCC) system operated by NT is capable of serving state units with 25,000 virtual machines (VMs), far short of actual demand among state units nationwide of 800,000 VMs for cloud adoption.
The CMP will provide centralised access, supervising state agencies and units to securely utilise cloud services, he said.
The cabinet earlier passed a resolution requiring all state units to use the GDCC system.
However, some state agencies have continued to rent capacity from private cloud servers for their operations as demand exceeds the capabilities of the GDCC system.
Mr Nattapon, who also serves as chairman of NT, said NT may have to partner with several cloud server providers to ensure the smooth operation of the proposed CMP system.
The project also requires approval from the National Digital Economy and Society Commission.
Meanwhile, NT plans to continue reducing staff levels from 12,600 employees to 11,000 by year-end, in line with its turnaround plan, said NT president Col Sanphachai Huvanandana.
NT plans to split profitable business units into three new companies this year and transfer some employees to the new companies.
Mr Nattapon said earlier NT is eager to join the smart meter project operated by Metropolitan Electricity Authority and Provincial Electricity Authority by providing the two state enterprises with data communications services.
The move is an effort by NT to explore new business opportunities as it prepares to lose annual revenue of 40 billion baht when some of its business agreements with private mobile phone operators expire and its right to use several spectrum ranges end in September 2025.
Col Sanphachai said management is preparing a business plan for the period after 2025, aiming to increase the current value of its assets through management restructuring and spinning off profitable units off into new companies. The plan includes increasing the capabilities of its mobile and fixed broadband services.
NT booked an operating loss of 9 billion baht in 2022 as a result of various disputes. NT posted an operating profit of 500 million baht between January and November 2023.
He said the company wants to negotiate and settle many disputes with other enterprises and private companies. Among the disputes, 17 cases involve a demand for compensation exceeding 1 billion baht.
NT will also have to increase the value of its buildings and land, said Col Sanphachai. NT's land nationwide covers more than 2,400 rai and the return on investment is only 0.2%, he said.