Completing radio spectra master plan key job for NBTC

Completing radio spectra master plan key job for NBTC   
Natee Sukonrat, chairman of the broadcasting committee of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), said that after five years the committee had yet to finish the radio spectrum master plan.
He added that this prompted the junta to execute an order late last year to extend the date all 21 state agencies had to return their 537 radio spectra to the NBTC by another five years from the original deadline of April this year.
He said the deadline extension gave more time to the broadcasting committee to finish the radio master plan.
The NBTC’s panel working on the radio spectrum master plan proposed the draft master plan for the broadcasting committee’s approval three times in past years but the committee asked it to conduct more studies, Natee said.
Besides the state radio agencies, there are around 5,000 community radio stations that have yet to be fully regulated. The NBTC awarded trial licences to them to operate their services. The licences will be renewed on a yearly basis.
The community radio stations appeared in 2002 after the support of the civilian government of that time and their number peaked at more than 6,000 in 2014. They have reportedly caused occasional signal jams to major radio stations.
According to the draft master plan, the broadcasting of FM and AM radio spectra will be digitised, which could create around 4,000 digital radio channels.
The radio broadcasting business earns total revenue of Bt6 billion per year, of which 80 per cent is from major operators like MCOT, GMM Grammy, and RS.