MCOT gets govt's provisional nod for digital TV licence bid
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The government has agreed in principle to allow MCOT to participate in the upcoming bidding for digital-TV broadcasting licences.
The National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) proposed the preparation of a strategic plan by MCOT in this regard, prior to submitting it to the Cabinet for approval.
Yesterday’s meeting of the Economic Affairs Committee also covered the issue of operational guidelines for the proposed State Railway of Thailand’s (SRT) organisational-efficiency improvement and land-development plans for seven large plots of land.
PM’s Office Minister Varathep Ratanakorn said after the meeting, which was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong, that the panel had agreed in principle to allow MCOT to participate in the bidding for digital-TV broadcasting licensing.
This is in accordance with the Cabinet’s resolution, which specified that MCOT must notify the Cabinet in advance if it wanted to join the bidding.
However, MCOT, which is a state enterprise listed on the stock exchange, has yet to propose a monetary figure for the bidding, as it awaits more details and an official announcement from the National Telecommunications Commission before it can submit a proposal to the Cabinet.
The NESDB wants MCOT to prepare strategic and operational plans for taking part in the bidding.
MCOT, as a state enterprise, is not entitled to special privileges, and therefore must compete with private firms on level terms and in a transparent manner.
Another key issue covered by yesterday’s meeting concerned the SRT’s plans to boost operational efficiency and to develop seven land plots valued at over Bt120 billion. Three of the seven plots are huge, including the SRT’s property at Makkasan, and are worth more than Bt100 billion combined.
SRT plots
The committee assigned the Transport Ministry to set up a panel to consider ways to turn undeveloped SRT plots into sources of revenue, either under the SRT itself or another agency’s management.
Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt said he would arrange a meeting of the new panel by July 29. Furthermore, the Transport Ministry proposed that the Finance Ministry back a plan for SRT employees’ pension-loans totalling about Bt2 billion, which would be available to staff who had joined the state agency since 1998.
The proposal is that each employee should receive up to 15 times their monthly salary, with a maximum of Bt200,000 per person. The SRT said about 10,000 employees were qualified to receive such a loan.
However, as there are no underlying regulations and the SRT has yet to officially issue the related rules and regulations governing the plan, the committee asked the agency to go back and draft them, then submit the details along with the wider plan to improve the finances of the SRT.
The economic affairs committee also approved in principle the raising of the temporary cost-of-living allowance for urgent cases to Bt100 million for state judges of the Justice Ministry, as proposed by the Budget Office and in accordance with the Cabinet’s resolution on June 4.
