The National Broadcasting & Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) of Thailand has reportedly asked state-owned CAT Telecom and mobile network operator True Move to review their contracts for the provision of 3G services.
The regulator was quoted saying…
The National Broadcasting & Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) of Thailand has reportedly asked state-owned CAT Telecom and mobile network operator True Move to review their contracts for the provision of 3G services.
The regulator was quoted saying that those contracts, signed in January, violate regulations in relation to significant market power under the Trade Competition Act and the Public-Private Joint Venture Act 1992.
Early this year, CAT had entered into agreements with two True subsidiaries, Real Move and Real Future, to develop a 3G service together in the 800MHz spectrum. This meant that True would continue to be able to offer phone services after its 2G licence expires in 2013.
The networks operated by private mobile operators are held by state-owned companies CAT and TOT. True, DPC and DTAC all have a concession with CAT, while AIS has a concession with TOT.
But back in April, DTAC argued that CAT offered the opportunity to provide 3G services to just one operator, and that this would result in a monopoly in the HSPA market. The company therefore filed a petition with the court to stop all the services under the agreements between CAT and True.
In mid-July, the two companies reportedly received the all clear by the Office of the Attorney-General for the 3G agreements.
The investigation concluded that the CAT-True collaboration was not in breach of the Public-Private Joint Venture Act and was in line with the wholesale-resale regulations of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).
However, the Office of the Attorney General recommended that the NBTC examines the contracts to confirm they comply with regulations.
The companies were not immediately available for comment before the press deadline.
