True Corp open to fine-tuning 3G deals with CAT in line with NTC regulations

True chief executive officer Supachai Chearavanont said yesterday that the company respected the opinion of the NTC board and hoped to discuss details of the contracts with the commission further. He made the remark to a Nation Channel reporter yesterday.
The remark followed an NTC board resolution on Wednesday requiring True and CAT jointly to amend some details of their 3G service-collaboration contracts within 30 days of the commission’s informing them of its decision on issues relating to its anti-monopoly regulations. The NTC, which is currently serving as acting National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), is expected to inform True and CAT of its decision on that matter this week.
Supachai added that according to the company’s preliminary study of the NTC board’s decision, the board did not order True subsidiary Real Move to stop providing the third-generation wireless broadband service, but only required True and CAT to amend some contract details to comply with regulations. The contracts are mostly in compliance and only a few minor details might need to be changed, he said.
True and CAT would discuss the case with the NTC once it formally contacted them, he said.
On Wednesday, CAT chief executive Jirayuth Rungsrithong said CAT was willing to amend some contract details in order to make them comply with the regulations.
True subsidiaries Real Move and Real Future signed deals with CAT in January to pave the way for their collaboration to provide the 3G service.
Under the deals, Real Future subsidiary BFKT (Thailand) will lease HSPA (high-speed packet access) equipment to CAT to generate 3G capacity for 14.5 years, while CAT will allocate the 850-megahertz spectrum to be used exclusively with such equipment for the same period. During the first three years, CAT will allocate a maximum of 80 per cent of the 3G capacity to be leased to Real Move to provide the service.
The NTC board also resolved to seek a ruling from the Information and Communications Technology and Finance ministries on whether the deals are subject to the 1992 Public-Private Joint Venture Act. It will also ask the upcoming NBTC to decide if the deals breach Article 46 (2) of the Frequency Allocation Law of 2010. The law obliges NTC licence holders to use their spectra to provide services on their own, instead of allowing other parties to do so on their behalf.
Questions have been raised about the deals’ legitimacy, but the Office of the Attorney-General offered the opinion to the ICT Ministry in April that they do not need to be in compliance with the terms of the Public-Private Joint Venture Act.
The ministry has set up a panel to probe the deals’ legitimacy.