CAT board approves merger alternative

CAT board approves merger alternative

CAT Telecom's board has approved a resolution for a merger of TOT and CAT to become a "national telecom company" to build up business strength, eliminate investment redundancy and create added value for existing assets of both state enterprises.

The latest move on July 4 is strongly supported by CAT's labour union, while the permanent secretary of the Digital Economy and Society (DE) Ministry also agreed in principle, but said the merger requires consent from TOT.

TOT's board and union are likely to support the merger process if it is done in 2025, as TOT has concerns over its revenue stream from partnership contracts with mobile operators and spectrum usage rights for the 2100- and 2300-megahertz bands.

Sungvorn Poomtian, president of CAT's labour union, said the merger was proposed in April after the DE Ministry suspended the spin-off of TOT and CAT Telecom into two subsidiaries.

The DE Ministry has shifted its timeline for splitting the state enterprises into two new companies from last year.

TOT will split into a new company called National Broadband Network (NBN), while CAT will become Neutral Gateway & Data Centre company (NGDC).

However, the labour unions of CAT and TOT filed a suit in Central Administrative Court against the procedure, claiming it would damage state assets in the future.

The DE Ministry suspended the transfer process of TOT and CAT to NGN and NGDC.

CAT's labour union will hold an extraordinary meeting on July 18 to inform union members of the latest move, and representatives of the CAT board will attend the meeting.

Mr Sungvorn said the CAT board and its union plan to submit an official proposal with a list of CAT's labour members who supported the proposal to the DE Ministry and a subcommittee of the State Enterprise Policy Commission or superboard in this month.

"The CAT board and the union need to see the merger process begun by this year for the new alternative as it is a more practical procedure to maintain public benefits from state assets, rather than the existing procedure that would create damage to the state enterprises," he said.

However, the latest alternative has not yet seen support from TOT executives and TOT's labour union.

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