The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) on Tuesday approved a proposal by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) to invoke Section 44 to rescue embattled TV digital operators and allow the Public Relations Department to broadcast adverts.
Government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said the NCPO's order is expected to be officially announced shortly.
NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith said it is good news that the NCPO will invoke Section 44 to ease the financial burden of existing digital TV operators as this will benefit the overall industry as well as their operations.
Despite the planned assistance for the two telecom operators having yet to be settled, Mr Takorn said the NBTC respects the decision of the NCPO and the government given that it is in the public interest.
"If the NCPO has decided to help the digital TV operators first, this means that their burden is really tougher than that of the telecom operators," he said.
Mr Takorn said the planned assistance for the digital TV operators and the two telecom operators is separate, not bundled together so the government can decide whether to help just one industry or both.
Previously, Mr Takorn accepted it may be easier to help only the digital TV operators because academics and the public sector opposed assistance for them less than for the two telecom operators.
"Thank you NCPO for understanding the problems of the digital TV industry. We confirm that it was a problem between the two parties, the TV operators and the NBTC, not the mistake of operators only," said Supap Kleekrajai, chairman of the Digital Terrestrial TV Channel Operators Club, saying the three-year suspension of licence payments will be really helpful for operators and the industry.
The economy will grow after the election, he said, adding that a year and a half from now the concessions of the analogue TV channels, Channel 3 and Channel 7, will expire, and those audiences who have never used TV set-top boxes, cable TVs, or satellite dishes will turn to digital TV and audiences will be on the same platform.
"This will absolutely increase the numbers of eyeballs and this will lead to advertising, so it should be a positive factor," he said.
Mr Supap said that the three-year suspension of licence payments will be a period of digital TV business transformation during which they can use the money for content development.
Audiences always complain that most digital TV programmes are the same, and that's because every channel has had to survive by saving their money to pay for the licences, he said.