The broadcast regulator has officially set the deadline as May 10 for existing digital TV operators to return their licences and exit the business in line with Section 44, which allows them to do so without additional penalties.
Operators must submit their proposal to the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) by the deadline and cannot withdraw after submitting.
Takorn Tantasith, secretary-general of NBTC, said the regulator called the existing 22 digital TV channels to join a meeting on May 7 to discuss related information.
Previously, the NBTC gave relaxed conditions allowing the TV operators to submit proposals by May 10, whereby they could withdraw if not happy with the terms and conditions of the regulatory draft.
"The NBTC finished the regulatory conditions faster than the previous timeline, when we expected to finish after the May 10 deadline," Mr Takorn said.
The government invoked Section 44 on April 10, which gave assistance to existing TV operators and the three major mobile operators.
For digital TV operators, the government will waive the remaining two terms of their licence payments at 13.6 billion baht, as well as subsidise their rental fees for broadcasting networks (MUX) worth 18.7 billion baht for the remaining nine years of their licences.
The major three mobile operators -- Advanced Info Service (AIS), True Move and Total Access Communication (DTAC) -- will be allowed to extend their 900-megahertz licence payment terms by five years, but only if they agree to buy 700MHz licences.
The NBTC will allocate 45MHz of bandwidth on the 700MHz range for sale to the three mobile operators, dividing it into three licences, each containing 15MHz of bandwidth.
Money from the planned 700MHz licence sale will be partly used for assistance to all digital TV operators.
A source in digital TV said four or five operators plan to return their licences and go off the air.