The Thai Office of the Auditor-General (OAG) is trying to determine whether the 3G partnership between state-owned CAT and mobile operator True, and state-owned operator TOT’s 3G tender, comply with the country’s Trade Competition Act, reports the…
The Thai Office of the Auditor-General (OAG) is trying to determine whether the 3G partnership between state-owned CAT and mobile operator True, and state-owned operator TOT’s 3G tender, comply with the country’s Trade Competition Act, reports the Bangkok Post.
The OAG wants to look into why CAT and True entered agreements without setting pricing guidelines, and whether they broke rules outlined in the 1992 Public-Private Joint Venture Act.
TOT and the country’s ICT ministry, for their part, will have to explain why TOT’s 3G tender seems aimed at one bidder only.
Depending on the outcomes of the probes, the OAG could reportedly refer the cases to the country’s National Anti-Corruption Commission.
Earlier this month, CAT and True Move inked a partnership to provide 3G mobile services, meaning that True, whose 2G licence expires in 2013, will continue to be able to offer phone services. The country’s 3G licence auction remains on hold.
It also comes in the wake of the True-HCWM deal.
In January, True said it would buy a majority stake in Hutchison CAT Wireless Multimedia (HCWM) from Hutchison Telecommunications International (HTI) for about Bt4.35bn (US$145m).
Hong Kong-based HTI has a 74% stake in HCWM, while CAT Telecom holds the remaining 26%. True Move is part of telecom conglomerate True Corp.
The board of CAT has reportedly agreed that it will terminate its marketing contract with Hutch and will sign a new 14-year contract with True to provide both 2G and 3G services.
