Court dismisses Teq TV's lawsuit over MCOT's equipment bid call
The Central Administrative Court has dismissed a lawsuit by Teq TV, a provider of digital broadcasting solutions, regarding MCOT's second tender call for transmission equipment for terrestrial-based digital television.
MCOT director-general Sivaporn Chomsuwan said yesterday that the court decision would make it easier for his firm to get moving on its network of digital TV transmitters, which was considerably behind its original schedule.
On December 4, Teq TV filed a lawsuit at the court against MCOT, believing that the second tender could affect its business.
Previously, the company sued MCOT in the Civil Court. In the previous round of bidding for a provider of digital-transmission equipment, Teq TV offered the best price. However, upon examination, MCOT found that the quality of equipment provided by Teq did not meet the requirements and conditions of the terms of reference. MCOT therefore decided not to sign a contract with Teq TV.
A source at MCOT said Teq TV was upset with that decision and took the matter to the Civil Court, which accepted the case and began hearings but had not yet ruled on it.
Sivaporn said the second case was dropped because Teq TV was not a bidder in the second round, so it had no right to appeal against this procedure.
Last month, MCOT announced that the successful bidder was the country’s leading provider of information and communications technology, Loxley, whose bid was Bt104 million lower than the reserve price.
With its new partner, MCOT aims to cover at least 80 per cent of the country’s 23.5 million households with its digital-TV transmission network by midyear in accordance with the broadcasting regulator’s conditions.
