'Network rental' defended

The office will submit this conclusion for the NBTC telecom committee’s consideration on April 5. 

The office determined that BFKT had rented the network in compliance with CAT Telecom’s contracts, which could not be regarded as intentionally violating the telecom law. In addition, the NBTC should not bring legal action against the company as doing so would risk a countersuit. 

BFKT has rented the 850-megahertz network for CAT and True Group to provide third-generation cellular service under CAT-True partnership contracts. The NBTC subcommittee has since last June investigated whether BFKT was violating the telecom law by operating the network-rental service under the contracts without an NBTC licence. The officials sent the result of their probe to NBTC staff late last year, but the telecom committee kept asking the panel to study more details before making a final conclusion. This week telecom committee chairman Settapong Malisuwan said his committee would bring the case to a definitive conclusion at its April 5 meeting.

The secretary-general’s office also suggested that the NBTC order BFKT to apply for a telecom licence within a certain period after concluding the case on April 5. If the company fails to do so, it will be deemed as breaching the law. 

The watchdog should also promptly revise the definition of the term “telecom service operation” to make it clear which businesses are required to apply for telecom licences. 

Article 7 of the Telecom Business Law states that any person intending to operate a telecom business must obtain a licence from the NBTC. Article 67 says those operating a telecom business without a licence will face punitive measures.