Wireless data charged on an 'actual-use basis'
FIVE TELECOM OPERATORS yesterday told the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commis-sion that they had been billing customers for wireless data services on an actual-use basis for some time.
The NBTC had called the companies in to ask them to charge customers for the use of data services on the basis of what they actually use. All five of them – Advanced Info Service (AIS), Total Access Communication ( DTAC), True Move H, CAT Telecom and TOT – informed the watchdog they had already been doing so for a long time.
The licensing body also asked them to stop using the term "unlimited" when advertising data packages, and to use the term "continuously" instead and promote understanding of the fair-usage policy among subscribers.
The NBTC is concerned that use of the term "unlimited" will make people believe – wrongly – that they can consume an unlimited amount of data in the packages at the same constant speed of data transfer.
Fair-usage policy, meanwhile, means customers can consume a certain data amount offered by the packages at a high speed of data transfer. However, the data-transmission speed will drop after the usage exceeds that amount, although users can continue to consume an unlimited amount of data.
Meanwhile yesterday, Saree Ongsomwang, chairman of the National Reform Council’s committee for consumer protection, said at a separate event that AIS, DTAC and True Corp had introduced new per-second-billing call packages, which were found by the council to be more expensive than existing packages.
The new packages also offer fewer privileges and benefits to consumers, she said.
