NBTC faces tough decision on licence payments

However, acceding to the industry’s demand would seem to go against one of the key roles incumbent on all members of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission – that is, protection of the national interest.

Since its establishment, the NBTC has generated billions of baht in revenue for the Kingdom through a series of licence auctions to obtain radio frequency both for telecommunications and broadcasting service.

In late 2013, the country’s first auction of 24 commercial digital-TV licences brought in record revenue of Bt54.422 billion.

To date, only 37 per cent – Bt20.347 billion – has been paid by those broadcasters, for the first and second instalments of the upfront licence fee, with the remaining four annual payments still to be made.

At last week’s meeting of the NBTC panel assigned to solve problems in terrestrial digital-TV business, a group of operators floated the possibility of returning digital-TV licences without having to pay the remaining instalments of the auction fee, in order to help ailing operators exit from digital-TV business.

The freedom to do so is also expected to help ease competitive pressure among existing players in the Bt80-billion TV broadcasting industry, which is facing a slowdown due to prevailing economic conditions.

"I believe that if the number of players in digital-TV business could be reduced, this would help those struggling TV operators to survive in business," said NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith.

He also claimed that at least five ailing TV operators had asked him about the possibility of returning their digital licences.

Responding to the idea raised at last week’s meeting of the panel, a representative of the Council of State opposed the notion, arguing that full payment of the fee was a major responsibility of each operator as a key element of protecting the national benefit.

But a key question is: would it really help those remaining if some troubled players could exit the market without having to meet any conditions?

"I believe it would not help that much in this regard, because strong players that offer quality content with clear brand positioning would still remain attractive both for advertisers and audiences even if the number of players were reduced," said Navamin Prasopnet, president of Mono Broadcast, the operator of Mono 29, which is ranked in the top five TV stations.

He suggested that it might be a good option for those who just wanted to give up and leave the business without having to make any further payments.

"However, can either the broadcasting regulator or the government dare to agree to this option, which could have a direct impact on the collection of national income?" he asked.

Channel 8 – another leading player in terrestrial-based digital television – also expressed concern over the possibility of an exit from the current licence-based system, which it believes could lead to more problems in the sector.

"A change in policy and regulations related to broadcasting could have either positive or negative impacts for all involved. So the policymakers and regulators should be cautious about making any changes in key regulations, to make sure that law enforcement remains consistent," RS chief executive officer Surachai Chetchotisak said recently.

Glancing at the overall consistency of broadcasting policy to drive the country in the digital-terrestrial-TV era, the NBTC’s key promises have not in fact yet been delivered since the commencement of digital broadcasting.

As a result, seven leading digital-TV operators – GMM 25, One, PPTV, Bright TV, Thairath TV, Now 26 and Nation TV – recently decided to file lawsuits against the broadcasting regulator calling for remedies after it allegedly had failed to fulfil its promises.

More TV operators are expected to follow suit if the NBTC continues to put the current 10 requests for action on hold after hearing the struggling broadcasters’ voices at the meeting of the special panel last week.

To help support long-term growth in this industry, it is vital that their voices are heard and their requests are turned into action.