TOT may cut allowances to counter concession losses
THE TOT is mulling cuts to monthly benefits of some employees, including allowances for professional engineers and car allowances for high-ranking executives, to deal with an end to concession revenue in December, TOT president Yongyuth Wattanasin said
However, the management would discuss the cuts with the state agency’s labour union and ask it to talk with employees to persuade them that the cuts are necessary, he said.
"It’s time for everyone to join together and make sacrifices for our survival," he said, adding that if all sides agreed with the plan, the state agency would implement this cost-reduction measure step-by-step.
The 2010 Frequency Allocation Law obliges TOT and CAT Telecom to start transferring their annual concession revenue – their main source of income – to the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) from December onwards.
The legal obligations have prompted both state telecom agencies to rush to trim costs and seek new revenue sources for their survival in the post-concession revenue era.
Yongyuth said that the TOT’s management was considering cutting a Bt4,000 allowance for professional engineers, which cost the state agency around Bt8 million a month.
It would also discontinue the Bt4,000 monthly allowance paid to some employees with qualifications in specific fields.
The state agency said it would also consider cuts to monthly car allowances of 100 senior executive vice presidents, executive vice presidents, and vice presidents, to show that not only lower-ranking employees were expected to make sacrifices.
The monthly car allowance of a vice president is Bt15,000, while that of an executive vice president is Bt20,000. Senior executive vice presidents receive the largest car allowance of Bt40,000.
To date, the TOT has received annual concession revenues of around Bt20 billion, contributed mainly by the country’s largest cellular operator, Advanced Info Service (AIS). AIS concessions under TOT will expire in 2015.
Opposed to auction
In a separate matter, Yongyuth said the TOT had written to the NBTC opposing its plan to auction off the state agency’s 900 MHz spectrum, and the CAT’s 1800MHz spectrum. In the letter, the TOT cited its entitlement to use the 900MHz spectrum until the term of its licence, granted by the NBTC, ends in 2025.
The TOT has granted the 900MHz spectrum to AIS to provide a cellular service until 2015, while CAT has granted the 1800MHz to TrueMove and Digital Phone Co. Their concessions will expire on September 15, when NBTC will reclaim this 1800MHz from CAT for reallocation by means of an auction. The watchdog is expected to auction the 1800MHz late next year.
Meanwhile, Suphachai Tangvorachai, TOT’s executive vice president for engineering, said that the TOT was in talks with the NBTC to apply for a broadcasting network operator licence and a broadcasting facility licence, to serve the upcoming terrestrial digital TV channel operators.
Though TOT does not have the broadcasting facilities, it owns telecommunications facilities nationwide at which TV broadcasting facilities could be set up.
The NBTC last month officially granted four digital TV broadcasting network operator licences to the Royal Thai Army; MCOT; the Public Relations Department (PRD); and the Thai Public Broadcasting Service (Thai PBS).
