True Corporation has asked the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) to revise some measures governing last year's merger between the company and Total Access Communication (DTAC).
True complained that the conditions are tough and unfair when compared with NBTC's conditions governing last year's takeover of broadband internet operator Triple T Broadband (TTTBB) by Advanced Info Service (AIS), according to Chakkrit Urairat, chief corporate affairs officer at True.
Mr Chakkrit said True has no intention to stop complying with the NBTC's merger measures, but wants fairness, especially for the duration it has to comply with some measures.
He said True does not want measures cancelled, but the periods for adherence to some conditions seem too long or have no end date.
The NBTC board meeting on Monday did not determine a resolution to True's request.
The completed amalgamation between True Corp and DTAC, becoming True Corp, was announced in March 2023 following NBTC approval of the merger in October 2022.
A source on the NBTC board who requested anonymity said among the measures True views as tough is a monthly report on the classification of telecom business accounts.
The information is to be submitted to the NBTC every three months, or whenever requested by the regulator.
Moreover, True must hire an experienced consultant to review the accuracy of the data and examine the cost structure and service rate structure to calculate the current average cost and additional cost of each of its current services four times a year.
This consultant must work with True for at least 10 years, or throughout its telecom licence period if the licence is less than 10 years.
For the AIS-TTTBB deal, some specific conditions prohibit AIS from raising broadband internet prices and require maintenance of the lowest-price packages for five years.
In addition, the NBTC board appointed a subcommittee to monitor the TTTBB takeover deal to protect consumers and prevent price increases as a result of the deal for five years.
The NBTC source said some commissioners believe the True-DTAC merger and AIS's takeover of TTTBB are different in terms of acquisition procedures and market sector.
The True-DTAC merger left the mobile phone service market with only two major operators.
However, the fixed internet broadband market still has three major operators left and there are many small operators in the provinces, despite the takeover of TTTBB by AIS.
The NBTC source said the regulator's office did not present to the board at the Monday meeting a comparative study of specific measures of the two mergers.
The NBTC wants to consider the report before making any decision.
"As some commissioners believe mobile phone service and broadband service are different sectors, they want to see the comparative report before making a decision," the source said.