MCOT set to comply with obligations on TV coverage
MCOT aims to cover at least 80 per cent of the country's 23 million households with its digital-TV transmission network by midyear in accordance with the broadcasting regulator's conditions.
The state media enterprise also defended its procurement process, saying its tendering was fair for all bidders. The successful bidder was the country’s leading provider of information and communications technology, Loxley.
MCOT director-general Sivaporn Chomsuwan said yesterday that there were five contestants for this contract, namely Thai Transmission Industry, Loxley, Samart Comtech, International Research Corporation and Zsen Technology. Loxley won the bid by offering the best price, Bt104 million lower than the reserve price.
MCOT will complete installation of digital-TV transmitters at 39 main broadcasting towers by the middle of this year, covering 80 per cent of total households in the Kingdom.
MCOT set a reserve price for this project at Bt318.5 million, while total primarily investment was about Bt440 million.
MCOT is one of two providers of nationwide digital-TV transmission that are behind schedule in setting up their networks.
Thawatchai Jittrapanun, member of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, said that of the 39 main broadcasting towers MCOT was supposed to set up, only 16 sites were complete, while the Public Relations Department had installed only one transmitter at its broadcasting towers in Bangkok.
To encourage those operators to increase their broadcast network, Thakorn Tantasit, secretary-general of the NBTC, said that his administration had warned both state media enterprises to install transmitters in accordance with the terms and conditions determined by the regulator.
If they fail to deal with the delays, both enterprises could be fined under an administrative action by the NBTC. The daily fine would be Bt20,000 multiplied by the number of incomplete broadcast sites.
The other two major operators of digital TV transmission networks – the Army’s TV5 and Thai Public Broadcasting Service – appear to be making good progress. Thai PBS’s network now covers 70 per cent of total households in 63 provinces with 29 broadcasting towers while the Army covers a similar area with 28 towers.
