Over 12.66 million apply for free 100 minutes phone calls
More than 12.66 million telephone numbers have applied for free 100 minutes of voice calls, the Office of The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) secretary-general, Takorn Tanthasit, said.
Six telecom operators -- Advanced Info Service (AIS), True Corp, Total Access Communication (DTAC), CAT Telecom, TOT and Penguin -- had allowed subscribers to apply for free 100 minutes of voice calls from May 1 to 15.
“Of the 12.66 million numbers, 9.54 million, or 75 per cent, are top-up subscribers, while 3.12 million numbers, or 25 per cent, are monthly subscribers,” Takorn said.
“When separated by telecom operators, 7.26 million numbers were from AIS, 3.30 million from True, 1.96 million from DTAC, 0.12 million from CAT, 5,079 from TOT, and 1,653 from Penguin.”
He added that people who received the confirmation SMS can make free phone calls for 45 days.
“This package is a collaboration between the government, the NBTC and six telecom operators to ease the financial pressure on the public brought on by the Covid-19 outbreak,” he added.