The board of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) Wednesday approved a new reduced fee for the terrestrial broadcasting network or MUX, proposing 22-26% lower, which was suggested by three network providers for both standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD).
The three MUX providers are Army Radio and Television (Channel 5), Thai Public Broadcasting Service (TPBS) and the Government Public Relations Department (PRD).
Secretary-general Takorn Tantasith said the move helps salve the financial burdens of terrestrial digital TV operators.
The regulator will allow all four MUX providers to set their new rental rates, then submit them to the NBTC for approval. Three already submitted them yesterday, with MCOT the exception.
Mr Takorn said MCOT has until tomorrow to submit a new rate, or the NBTC will set the new rate for it.
He said the new MUX rental fee rate is also part of the rescue package, with Section 44 recently invoked by the government to ease the financial burden for digital TV operators.
Section 44 was invoked in May to impose a three-year debt moratorium to assist digital TV operators who owe the NBTC billions of baht in unpaid licence fees.
The NBTC has also been tasked with using its funds to subsidise the MUX rental fee.
Mr Takorn said decreasing the rental rate by 22-26%, as approved by the NBTC, could help both the regulator and digital TV operators.
"Under the new rate, digital TV operators will pay less to use MUX. The NBTC can also subsidise the cost from MUX, as the NBTC was ordered under Section 44 to subsidise 50% of operators' costs," he said.
Mr Takorn said the NBTC hopes to see a single rate for renting the MUX network in the future to ensure fairness among network providers.
In a related development, Mr Takorn said the MCOT labour union yesterday submitted a request asking the NBTC to order Spring News, a Thai TV news outlet, to pay 104 million baht in debt to MCOT if the station needs to rent the network from other MUX providers.
The request came after Spring News and MCOT jointly settled a weeks-long dispute over the debt.
Previously, MCOT had vowed to terminate the channel's broadcasting network unless Spring News repaid 104 million baht in debt.
Spring News said it would sue MCOT over overpriced rental fees.
Spring News reportedly failed to reach an agreement with MCOT, saying it needs to save money for reorganisation.