PSI Holdings pressured to apply for licence itself
The national broadcasting regulator has put pressure on the country's largest satellite TV network provider, PSI Holdings, to enter its licence-based regime after the company assigned a subsidiary to apply for a licence.
“PSI Holdings will have two more weeks to make it right in order to prevent problems,” Natee Sukonrat, chairman of the broadcasting committee of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, said yesterday. “For example, its 10 million customers, almost half of the 22 million households nationwide, will not be able to access free-to-air satellite TV channels via PSI’s receivers.”
Natee added that his panel had told 752 licensed cable and satellite channel operators to comply strictlywith the NBTC rule mandating that they transmit their signals carrying TV programmes via licensed network providers only.
Currently, only 19 national network providers have obtained NBTC network licences for non-frequency-use service, commonly known as cable and satellite TV service.
Natee said PSI Holdings had assigned a newly established subsidiary, Poly Broadcasting Co, to apply for a national network licence. However, the NBTC office had not yet approved the licence because Poly Broadcasting was operating only over-the-air (OTA) service for the mother company, which acts as network operator.
PSI Holdings chief executive Somporn Teerachanapong insisted that Poly Broadcasting should be the proper licence holder. His company was transferring the OTA system and other network-related management to PSI Broadcasting.
Meanwhile, the contract with Thaicom for rental of satellite transponders must be changed to put it in the name of PSI Broadcasting instead of Poly Tele Media, another subsidiary.
Normally, each network operator must pay 2 per cent of its gross income as an annual licence fee and another 2 per cent for the NBTC’s research and development fund.
In a separate matter, the broadcasting panel approved a draft rule on channel arrangements for cable and satellite TV networks. The aim is to provide more flexibility, particularly for pay-TV operators.
According to the draft, pay-TV operators will be allowed to offer prime programming on the first 10 channels. The 11th to 46th channels would be reserved for the 36 coming digital channels, comprising 12 public and 24 commercial services.
The remaining channels would be in accordance with the current rules on channel grouping.
