MCOT links with partners for trial of TV content on broadcaster’s bandwidth
MCOT is partnering with Playwork, Advanced Wireless Network (AWN) and TrueMove H Universal Communication (TUC) to conduct a non-commercial trial of providing its TV content on the state enterprise's 2.6GHz bandwidth.
The move reflects MCOT’s efforts to seek possible new business opportunities, said MCOT president Kematat Paladesh yesterday.
Playwork is MCOT's pay-TV marketing partner, while AWN and TUC are subsidiaries of Advanced Info Service and True Corp, respectively.
The test will start this year at 30 spots in Bangkok and will take six months to finish.
AWN and TUC have provided related network facilities to support the trial.
Opportunities ahead
After the trial, MCOT and Playwork will discuss more business details before going ahead with the launch of the commercial service, which will cover both free and paid content.
Kematat said that Playwork has committed to achieving revenue of Bt300 million for MCOT in the first year of the commercial service launch.
MCOT has total of 144 MHz bandwidth of the 2.6GHz.
According to MCOT, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has already granted the relevant permits to MCOT, enabling it to move ahead with the service trial.
The NBTC and MCOT are in still in talks on the NBTC’s plan to reclaim spectrum bands from state agencies, including MCOT, for reallocation by means of auction.
The state agencies will be compensated by the NBTC if they hand over the spectra before their right to use them ends.
