Negotiations with clients going well: MCOT
MCOT said yesterday that its negotiations with its transmission-network clients Thairath TV, Voice TV and Springnews TV were now proceeding constructively, suggesting that all viewers of those digital TV channels were less likely to be inconvenienced.
Piset Chiyasak, acting president of the state media enterprise, said his company had been discussing with those TV broadcasters a proper solution for their grievances after they suspended some payments of their leasing fees.
The three are using MCOT’s digital TV backbone network to transmit their broadcasts.
Thairath TV, Voice TV and Springnews TV have claimed that MCOT was way behind schedule with its roll-out of its transmission network, while transmission quality was also much poorer than they had been led to believe.
Piset acknowledged that because of some internal difficulties, the expansion of its digital-TV transmission network in the first year of operation was behind plan. However, the company had achieved its target in the second year.
Addressing the lessees’ complaints, MCOT offered them remedial measures such as appropriate discounted rates during the first year, he said.
The broadcasting regulator has agreed in principle to the request from MCOT along with other providers of digital-transmission networks that want permission to terminate leases with broadcasters.
On Monday, Natee Sukonrat, chairman of the broadcasting committee of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, said his panel had given the green light to the requests from those digital-TV network operators for a way to get out of their leases if they could reach an agreement with their clients.
The regulator has stressed that such changes could affect local viewers one way or another, so to win its approval, the network providers must notify their clients at least 30 days in advance of their intention to end the lease early and help the clients to transfer to a new transmission provider.
Network providers must also prepare appropriate measures to prevent disruption of services to viewers.
Given the panel’s decision, it is hoped that the negotiations between the two sides can produce positive results, Natee said.
