Senators choose 10 final contenders
The Senate yesterday shortlisted 10 candidates for the five seats of the so-called super board that will be tasked with evaluating the performance of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) according to the Frequency Allocation
Senators will decide on the final five members on Friday. Initially there were 72 contenders, five of whom did not have the right qualifications.
Of the 10 candidates, two – General Thavatchai Samusakorn and Laksami Srisompetch, vice chairman of Chiang Mai Chamber of Commerce – come from the broadcasting arena. Another two – former senator Pichai Utamapinun and General Jiradet Kotcharat – have TV broadcasting experience, while former senator Anant Worathitipong and Mahanakorn University of Technology lecturer Amornthep Jiratthiticharoen have telecom backgrounds.
Those from broadcasting consumer protection are acting NBTC deputy secretary-general Prasert Apipunya and Pansak Jantapaya, former adviser to Justice Ministry. The two with human-rights background are General Boonyawat Kruehong and the former permanent secretary of the Tourism and Sports Ministry, Jadet Insawang.
Members of the super board will each have a three-year term, which will not be renewed. Their role will be to evaluate the NBTC’s performance and report to Parliament.
Meanwhile, Thailand Development Research Institute president Somkiat Tangkitvanich chose not to offer his opinions to the NBTC panel assigned to probe the possibility of the three bidders colluding to win the auction for bandwidth slots on the 2.1-gigahertz spectrum.
Somkiat said he chose not to say anything because the conditions of the auction were more to blame than the possibility of collusion. He said the NBTC’s telecom committee should not have set a maximum of three spectrum slots for each of the three bidders. In addition, investigation into the possibility of collusion is only taking the attention away from the fact that the mistake lies in the actual auction.
The panel is expected to complete its probe on Sunday.
The NBTC telecom committee auctioned off nine spectrum slots on October 16 and the three bidders – Advanced Wireless Network, DTAC Network and Real Future – grabbed three slots each, for the provision of third-generation cellular service. The outcome was later slammed for lacking proper competition.
Meanwhile, the Central Ad-ministrative Court will call in representatives of the bid winners for an inquiry today after the Office of the Ombudsman filed a petition two weeks ago saying that the auction lacked fair and free competition. The court grilled members of the telecom committee and the Office of the Ombudsman last week.
