AIS again asks court to order delay of 2G-900MHz cut-off
ADVANCED Info Service yesterday petitioned the Central Administrative Court again to extend the deadline for switching off its second-generation cellular service on the 900-megehertz band from April 14 to June 30.
The court will call in AIS and the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) for an urgent hearing today.
AIS said the extension was needed to prevent disrupting service to the 8.2 million subscribers on the band. This frequency slot has also not yet been assigned to any party.
Second request
The first request for an extension was made last month. The court enjoined the licensing body from ordering AIS to shut down the service at midnight on March 15 and allowed AIS to continue using the 900MHz band until April 14.
NBTC member Pravit Leesatapornwongsa said that if the junta permits the commission to award the 900MHz licence forfeited by a Jasmine subsidiary to AIS without holding a new auction, AIS should pay the first Bt8.04 billion instalment of the licence fee immediately.
AIS proposed to the NBTC this week that it award the 900MHz licence to one of its subsidiaries in exchange for paying Bt75.65 billion, the same price Jas Mobile Broadband quoted to win this slot in the auction last December.
The regulator passed AIS’s proposal to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha for consideration and is waiting to see if he will exercise his special power under Section 44 of the interim charter to approve the proposal.
Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam will discuss this matter with the NBTC today.
The NBTC’s telecom committee originally ordered AIS to pull the plug on the 2G service on March 15 after awarding the 900MHz licence to True Corp in the middle of last month.
AIS’s stock plummeted 6.13 per cent to close at Bt153 in trading yesterday.
