Telecom veterans have expressed concerns about the new National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) board's capability and courage in dealing with various critical tasks ahead, especially the planned auction for the right to use satellite orbital slots.
The new board is also expected to face an uphill task attracting bidders for spectrum licences for the auction of the 3500-megahertz range, as major mobile operators already shoulder a large financial burden from previous auctions of 4G and 5G spectrum licences.
Late last month, the Senate voted in favour of five of seven prospective candidates becoming new board members of the NBTC.
The new board members will start working once they are royally endorsed.
However, the new board members have drawn flak among industry veterans, who questioned their ability and courage to deal with critical tasks.
A telecom veteran who requested anonymity said there are several tough tasks pending and they have the risk of faltering under the supervision of the new board.
One of the key tasks is the country's first auction for the right to use satellite orbital slots. The plan was scrapped in August last year after SET-listed Thaicom through its wholly owned firm, TC Space Connect, was the only contestent.
The country risks losing some orbital slots for failing to coordinate usage of them under an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) regulation by early 2022.
Following the scrapping of the auction, the NBTC pledged to adjust the principle and method of the auction to create better conditions. However, the regulator has yet to make progress with the issue or come up with a new auction timeline, the source noted.
Another telecom source pointed out that it is hard for the NBTC to draw up a new auction timeline as long as Thaicom is still seen as the sole prospective bidder.
The source said the NBTC must be brave enough to directly allocate some orbital slots to National Telecom (NT) through a regulatory amendment, which would allow NT to make use of the slots for some public benefits.
"The NBTC board needs to pioneer the move," the source said.
The source also pointed out that it is highly unlikely that mobile operators would be interested in joining the planned auction of the 3500MHZ spectrum as the major carriers have already spent so much on 4G and 5G spectrum licences.
Bandwidth consumption is also now getting saturated with no new breakthrough of applications in mass market, the source said.
Additionally, True Corporation and Total Access Communication, two major mobile operators, are now moving towards a merger, which would reduce the number of major carriers from three to two.
"A challenge lies in how to choose the most proper way to allocate the spectrum range to operators in a way that should also create public benefits," the veteran said.
The five chosen board members comprise: Air Marshal Thanapant Raicharoen, deputy secretary-general of the NBTC; Pirongrong Ramasoota, a lecturer at Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Communication Arts; Dr Sarana Boonbaichaiyapruck, a medical specialist and a former member of the defunct National Legislative Assembly; Torpong Selanon, president of the Thailand Association of the Blind; and Suphat Suphachalasai, director of Thammasat University's Institute of Area Studies.
