True-CAT 3G deal awaits council of state verdict
True Corp and CAT Telecom must wait for the Council of State's opinion on whether their service partnership is subject to the 1992 State-Private Joint Venture Act before they can amend their contracts to satisfy the telecom regulator.
True and CAT had agreed to a cooperative arrangement to provide third-generation cellular service on the 850-megahertz spectrum. But in June, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission ordered them jointly to amend the contracts to bring them into compliance with the Frequency Allocation Law.
CAT chief executive officer Kitisak Sriprasert said yesterday that if the Council of State rules that the contracts are subject to the joint-venture law, they would need Cabinet approval. In that case, CAT and True would amend the contracts to comply with both the joint-venture law and the Frequency Allocation Law at the same time.
CAT would soon consult with the Council of State on the matter, he added.
The NBTC ordered CAT and True to amend six items in the contracts after its panel found that these items breached the Frequency Allocation Law. Consequently both signed a memorandum of understanding on December 4 to amend the contracts.
Kitisak said CAT had advised the NBTC about the Council of State wrinkle. While waiting for the council’s conclusion, True will be able to continue offering its 3G-850MHz service under the contracts, he added.
CAT and True subsidiaries Real Future and Real Move signed the 3G service partnership deals in January 2011, which see BFKT Thailand of Real Future leasing 3G network equipment to CAT to generate bandwidth for wholesale and resale. The state agency has already sold wholesale the bandwidth to Real Move, which has provided the service under the TrueMove H brand. The company has more than 3 million subscribers.
In a separate matter, the CAT board yesterday approved bonuses for officials at 4.1 times their monthly salaries, based on the positive revenue outlook this year. In the first 11 months, total revenue, including from concessions, stood at Bt43.309 billion with net profit of Bt11.325 billion.
CAT owns the concessions of TrueMove, Digital Phone Co, and Total Access Communication. However, the concessions of the first two will end next September.
Starting in 2014, CAT and TOT will also have to pass their concession revenue to the NBTC, which will transfer the funds to the state, as stipulated by the Frequency Allocation Law.
