NTC member quits as lawsuits loom
Artorn Chandavimol, one of seven commissioners with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), submitted his resignation on Monday, reportedly out of concerns that the telecom regulator could face lawsuits.
The remaining NTC commissioners will hold an urgent meeting today to evaluate the impact of Artorn's departure. By law, the regulator is allowed to continue operating despite the absence of one member. While Artorn declined to comment, a source in the NTC said Artorn has felt pressured from increasing criticism of the NTC. State telecom agencies have strongly criticised the regulator for introducing the interconnection charge regime, which has prompted some telecom operators to stop paying access charges to TOT Plc. The access charge is a fee all private cellular concessionaires of CAT Telecom pay to TOT for connecting different networks via TOT's facilities. TOT stands to lose around Bt14 billion per year if the concessionaires stop paying the access charge. Under the NTC's interconnection charge regime, telecom operators must share voice revenue from calls made between networks. The regulation does not specify whether access charges must also be paid. The source added that Artorn also felt his colleagues at the NTC had offered him little support. NTC chairman Choochart Promphrasid said Artorn had expressed his desire to resign many times. He said today's board meeting would reveal if the resignation takes effect immediately or if it can be stalled. The NTC is required to begin the process of seeking a replacement for Artorn within 30 days of his resignation taking effect. A source at the Finance Ministry, which owns TOT and CAT, said the interconnection charge should only apply to TOT and CAT, which are NTC licensees, and should not cover all telecom operators as the NTC has directed. "We're willing to clarify all matters with the government and we believe that what we've done has always complied with the law," said Choochart. Meanwhile, CAT's labour union yesterday submitted an allegation to the Senate that the NTC, whose role is to protect the national interest, awarded several companies licences to provide overseas calls without the proper regulations being in place. Moreover, the labour union will ask the Council for National Security to dissolve the NTC, following the council's termination of the 1997 Constitution, which legitimates the establishment of the telecom regulator.
Usanee Mongkolporn The Nation
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