Council of State meets to consider telecom watchdog’s power over True-Dtac merger
The government’s Council of State legal advisers met on Tuesday to decide whether the telecom watchdog has authority to halt a planned merger between True Corporation and Total Access Communication (Dtac).
The meeting heard testimony from a National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission representative.
The NBTC has deferred its decision on the planned True-Dtac merger pending legal advice from the Council of State.
The meeting came after a second request by the NBTC for the council to interpret its power to regulate the merger deal.
The first request was rejected by the Council of State on grounds that the NBTC did have the power according to law but also that the watchdog was being sued in the Central Administrative Court. The lawsuit, which was filed by Napat Winitchaikul, a member of a committee overseeing the telecoms watchdog, asked the court to order the NBTC to nullify its regulations on telecom mergers.
The Central Administrative Court rejected the lawsuit on grounds that the NBTC had power to halt any merger it deemed as a threat to fair competition.
The Council of State called Tuesday's meeting in response to an order from acting Prime Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan, who was petitioned by the NBTC after the first request was refused, according to sources.
The NBTC sent two deputy secretary generals, Trairat Wiriyasirikul and Sutthisak Tantayothin, to testify at the meeting.
The meeting was chaired by Meechai Ruchuphan and attended by government legal experts Aree Wongaraya and Asa Meksawan.
Civil society groups including the Civil Group for Liberal Communications have urged the NBTC to uphold its duty to protect the public from monopolies and reject the merger.
However, True and Dtac have insisted that the NBTC has no power to reject the deal. They argue that the telecom watchdog can only issue measures to mitigate its impact on consumers.
