NBTC broadcast panel to meet free-TV operators
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission's broadcasting committee will meet the six free-TV operators next Thursday to discuss the possibility of conducting a joint trial of the digital terrestrial TV service.
NBTC broadcasting panel chairman Natee Sukonrat said yesterday that if they could reach an agreement, he would ask them to sign a memorandum of understanding to go ahead with the trial.
He will also discuss with them how to provide digital-TV signal receivers to viewers, and the coverage area of the trial.
He has invited all six free-TV operators – Channels 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 and Thai Public Broadcasting Service (Thai PBS) – to attend the discussions. Natee recently said the watchdog expected to launch the trial of the digital terrestrial TV system in June, and to start granting licences by late this year.
As part of the its draft of the spectrum management master plan, the NBTC plans to switch the radio and TV broadcasting industries from the analogue system to digital within four years of the master plan coming into effect. The plan is expected to come into force this quarter.
Speaking at a seminar on the new direction and new business opportunities of radio and TV businesses, co-hosted by the Institute of Social and Economic Policy and the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC), Natee said he expected it would take around 10 years for the whole broadcasting industry to completely switch to the full digital era.
He believes the number of terrestrial digital-TV channels number will rise to 100 in the near future after the licences are granted.
Pramote Chokesirikulchai, executive adviser to the president of Bangkok Entertainment Company, said the digital-TV business would boom during the initial period, but soon thereafter the number of players would decline, with only a few strong ones surviving in the market.
Another panellist, MCOT executive vice president Sura Gaintanasilp, said the NBTC should make it clear how the digital-TV system could benefit the country.
Wasan Paileeklee, deputy managing director of Thai PBS, said the broadcaster stood ready to provide digital-TV service, but it was waiting for clarity on the direction and policies of the sector’s development from the NBTC.
