TrueMove, DPC challenge NBTC orders in court
TrueMove and Digital Phone Co (DPC) have both filed separate lawsuits with the Central Administration Court challenging the order of the telecom committee of the National Broadcast-ing and Telecommunications Com-mission to transfer to the state coffers re
TrueMove submitted its petition to the court on November 17 against the NBTC telecom committee’s order to pay up a total of Bt1.07 billion revenue it made form September 16, 2013, to July 17, 2014. The revenue was from offering the second-generation 1,800MHz service in the first phase of the remedy period.
The telecom committee sent the order on August 17 this year, asking TrueMove to pay within 30 days of the order, alternatively it could take the case to court within 90 days or November 19 this year.
DPC filed the same case after the NBTC asked it to pay a total of Bt627 million revenue it made from September 16, 2013, to July 17, 2014.
Concessions granted to TrueMove and DPC by CAT Telecom expired on September 15, 2013, but the watchdog permitted them to continue service or the so-called "remedy period" to prevent service disruption to customers, who failed to move out after the concession ended. The remedy period end on November 25, the day the NBTC awarded the 1,800MHz spectrum licence to bid winner Advanced Wireless Network of Advanced Info Service. TrueMove asked the NBTC to further extend the remedy period until TrueMove H Universal Communica-tion (TUC), a unit of True Corp, obtains the licence on December 4, 2015. TUC is the other licence winner.
Telecom commissioner Prasert Silpiphat said TrueMove had informed him that it intended to challenge the order because it would like to use its right to challenge the order within 90 days. However, if the telecom committee cancels the order, the company would withdraw the case later.
Prasert said that TrueMove claimed there was a difference between the models used by the committee and TrueMove to calculate revenue. Therefore, he would allow TrueMove to submit new information and ask the telecom committee to reconsider.
Recently CAT Telecom had filed a case against the NBTC, seeking Bt6 billion as network rental fee from TrueMove and DPC during the second phase of the remedy period from July 18, 2014, until the end of period.
Earlier the committee concluded that CAT should get only Bt742,000 as network rental fee during the first stage of the remedy period from TrueMove and DPC. The figure is calculated for leasing network for 10 months from September 16, 2013, to July 17, 2014. CAT had sought network rental fee totalling Bt23.379 billion from September 16, 2013, to September 15, 2014.
Colonel Sanphachai Huvanandana, CAT’s acting chief executive officer, said that CAT needed to file a lawsuit as a network owner, and it should get the appropriate network rental fee.
