The government has agreed in principle to help relieve the financial burdens of terrestrial digital TV operators and the two winners of the 4G licence auction for the 900-megahertz spectrum from 2015.
The state believes special measures are needed to ease broadcasters' difficulties before the planned auction of 5G licences in 2018, according to a source close to policymakers.
Official measures will come through invocation of Section 44 by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, maybe as early as next month.
The Association of Digital TV Operators has urged the government for months to use the law to help them survive, submitting its proposal directly to the government and via public forums.
The association wants the elimination of the rental fee for broadcasting networks, known as MUX, which is due in January 2018.
The group also proposes waiving remaining licence payments due to start in May 2018 and letting operators exit the business.
The association and other broadcasting entities asked the National Legislative Assembly to review the frequency allocation law and the Broadcasting Act of 2008, citing a fast-changing broadcasting ecosystem.
The source said the additional assistance through Section 44 would not meet all of the association's requirements.
"Section 44 may order state agencies to subsidise the rental fee of broadcasting networks (MUX)," the source said, "but the government will not waive the remaining licence payments as required by the association."
The source said the government may agree a proper time, perhaps two years, as a grace period for the existing digital TV operators to do business without paying licence fees.
Under the latest demand of Advanced Info Service (AIS) and True Move, the two winners of 4G licences on the 900MHz spectrum in 2015, the government was asked to invoke Section 44 to extend the term of the licence payment for 2019, when each has to pay 60 billion baht to the state.
The two companies requested an extension from the last term in 2019 to 2023, with instalments over five years plus interest.
AIS won the 900MHz licence for 75.65 billion baht, while True Move won its licence for 76.29 billion baht. Each company already paid two licence instalments of 8.04 billion baht in 2016 and 4.02 billion baht in 2017.
AIS and True Move each must pay for the third instalment of 4.02 billion baht in 2018. But for the last instalment in 2019, AIS must pay 59.5 billion baht while True Move has to pay 60.2 billion baht.
The source said the government is concerned about the financial burden of each winner in 2019 and the effect on the planned 5G licence auctions in 2018.
"Under their existing financial burdens, it is hard for them to apply for a new term loan from creditors for the 5G licence bidding, as this would inevitably affect the competitive atmosphere of the planned auction," the source said.
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) plans to auction one licence for 10MHz of bandwidth on the 850MHz spectrum (upload and download), and three licences on the 1800MHz spectrum (each contains 30MHz of bandwidth for upload and download).
The reserve price for a 850MHz licence is 37.9 billion baht, while each licence of the 1800MHz band is 37.4 billion baht.
The NBTC, meanwhile, began to implement a series of financial support measures for digital TV broadcasters in December last year to ease their financial burdens amid business difficulties.
More digital TV channels are expected to lay off workers next year in order to deal with the financial burden, according to media experts.
In Thailand's media landscape, the state of digital TV has become precarious as a result of excess channels and intense competition.
The latest statement by VoiceTV about a major round of layoffs this Friday set the industry on edge again.
Mana Treelayapewat, dean of the School of Communication Arts at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said the VoiceTV situation is nothing new to the industry. Many weak digital TV operators had cut jobs in the past two years to shore up finances.
In 2015, Spring News laid off about 50 employees, including reporters, photographers, producers and other operational staff, to restructure its organisation. The Shinawatra family-owned VoiceTV laid off 57 workers in February to reduce operating costs.
Thairath TV, operated by Triple V Broadcast, offered early retirement packages to staff before the official announcement. Nation Media Group, which runs Nation TV and Now 26, and ThaiPBS also offered packages.
Mr Mana said more digital TV operators are likely to fire workers next year.
He said low-rated digital TV channels are facing grave problems and will pull out the stops to stay alive, but they won't close down because they are not allowed to by the NBTC.
"The operating cost of hiring staff is considered the biggest issue after the digital licence fees paid to the NBTC, and it's not surprising that the weak operators chose to make layoffs," Mr Mana said.
He said the strategy of those weak operators is to reduce costs as much as possible and survive amid fierce competition in the digital TV industry and a backdrop of shrinking media spending, which has gradually shifted to online media.
"The redundancy caused by technology allows audiences to stay with new platforms such as mobile phones or social media devices," Mr Mana said, adding that digital TV operators must create their own unique positioning in content.
Nielsen Co Thailand ranks Voice TV as the lowest among the 25 existing free channels.