NBTC taken to task by former commissioner over ‘ambiguous’ decision on True-Dtac merger

Supinya, who served as an NBTC commissioner between 2011 and 2017, said many consumers could not afford mobile phone services when they were first available in Thailand over three decades ago.

“It took several years before the second and third players came into the market. It was then that prices came down and most people could afford telecom services. We are now going back in time to more than 20 years before,” she said.

She said what left her “dumbfounded” were the views of some NBTC commissioners that this was not a merger by businesses of the same type.

“What was the logic used by some NBTC members to vote that way? I’d like an explanation,” she demanded.

Supinya said such a decision would severely affect public confidence in the telecom watchdog and trigger questions as to whether the decision was based on public interest.

The former commissioner, who is also a consumer rights activist, called on the NBTC to do its duty as a regulator and not just as a registrar. She said its duty is to promote free and fair competition as well as protect consumers as required by the Constitution.

The NBTC voted 3:2 to acknowledge the True-Dtac merger with conditions for their merged entity to follow.

Pointing out that the NBTC is generally viewed as a “paper tiger”, Supinya said that with only two players left in the market, consumers will end up being taken advantage of when there is a duopoly.

She added that she saw no future for Thai consumers after NBTC’s decision on Thursday night to “acknowledge” a merger between the country’s second and third-largest mobile network operators with conditions.

“There is no one Thai consumers can turn to after the commissioners have said that they only have a duty to acknowledge and allow the players to revise the rules as they like,” she said.

Supinya is now chairperson of the Thailand Consumers Council’s telecom and information technology subcommittee.