Telecom panel turns down CAT bid for return of 17m numbers from True, DPC
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THE TELECOM Committee yesterday rejected CAT Telecom's request for TrueMove and Digital Phone Co to return to CAT all the mobile phone numbers of their over 17 million customers after their concessions expire on Sunday.
The decision was in line with the committee’s measure to protect the customers by allowing TrueMove and DPC to continue serving them for one more year after their concessions end, committee member Suthiphon Thaveechaiyagarn said.
The committee also wants to prevent confusion by those customers.
CAT had requested those phone numbers from authorities on behalf of both cellular operators as holders of concessions from CAT.
Korchai Danwichit, deputy secretary-general of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), said the watchdog is following up on a report that TrueMove automatically ports its subscribers to its other networks without their consent.
Contravention
If that is true, it contravenes NBTC’s regulations for standard telecom service contracts and for mobile phone number portability.
The Telecom Committee also approved the new formula for calculating the network interconnection charges of 2G and 3G operators, which will be forwarded to the NBTC for consideration soon.
