5 state bodies expect to vie for NBTC licences

Five state bodies – the Public Health Ministry, the Education Ministry, the Tourism and Sports Ministry, the Royal Thai Police and Parliament – have expressed interest in joining the “beauty contest” for public digital-TV licences.

Confirmations of interest were delivered by these organisations during yesterday’s signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding with MCOT, which will provide services and support them in digital terrestrial broadcasting on a trial basis.

Taweekiat Chaovalitthawil, deputy secretary-general at the Secretariat of the House of Representatives, said Parliament’s TV station had earmarked Bt1 billion for a four-year investment in a new public digital-TV channel. The sum would be used for content development and high-definition technology both at the station’s current offices in the Parliament compound, and at its facilities in the new Parliament building.

“Besides televising the national assembly and key meetings with a combined 1,000 hours of coverage a year, the TV station would produce its own programming. Our model is the BBC Parliament channel,” the official added.

Police Lt-General Somdet Khaokham, assistant commissioner-general of the Royal Thai Police – operator of the Police TV satellite channel – said his team was studying whether Police TV could be developed into a digital terrestrial TV platform. 

However, he said he could not disclose the amount of the investment this would entail. 

Police TV is wholly owned by the Royal Thai Police, and is operated in cooperation with a private production house. The annual running cost is about Bt60 million, funded by the owner. 

The police wish to apply for a digital TV licence to run a channel for public safety purposes, he added.

Preecha Cheanchanokpibool, acting director of the Centre for Educational Technology under the Education Ministry, said the centre planned to apply for a licence for an educational, science and cultural channel.

If the plan bears fruit, the CET’s current Education Television Station (ETV) could extend its coverage to reach all Thai children, he said, adding that ETV is the country’s first station broadcasting educational programmes via the satellite platform. 

Suwat Sitthilor, permanent secretary of the Tourism and Sports Ministry, said it planned to join the beauty contest for a licence to run a single sports and public health promotion channel. 

 

Great opportunity for MCOT

The interest shown by the five state organisations presents MCOT with a great business opportunity, said company president Anek Permvongseni. 

Given the potential in public digital TV, MCOT plans to work as a master content-management company and production house for the five agencies that are planning to become public TV broadcasters, he said.

Apart from those services, MCOT – along with the Royal Thai Army, the Public Relations Department and Thai Public Broadcasting Service (Thai PBS) – will jointly work as an infrastructure and network provider both for their own digital TV channels and those of new TV operators, he added.

In this regard, MCOT yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding with the three public television broadcasters to share their existing infrastructure. 

This would include broadcasting and rebroadcast towers upcountry, to support the transmission of digital terrestrial television broadcasting signals.

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission’s beauty contest for eight public digital TV channels will be held in May or June. 

The licences are for an educational, science and cultural channel; a sports and public health promotion channel; a national security channel; a religion channel; a public safety and security channel; a government and public-relations channel; a democracy promotion channel; and a children’s channel, which will also provide programming for disabled people.

 

New potential bidders 

Organisation Type of channel 

Public Health Ministry Sports and public health promotion

Education Ministry Educational, science and culture 

Tourism and Sports Ministry Sports and public health promotion

Royal Thai Police Public safety and security

Parliament Democracy promotion

 

Source: Compiled by The Nation