Thailand Delays 3G - Pending Further Study

BANGKOK -(Dow Jones)- Thailand won't release criteria for third-generation telecommunciation service licenses this year because a national commission needs more time to study the economic, social and legal aspects of the issue.

However, the National Telecommunication Commission did decide to allow private operators to provide key Internet services.

"We had given less deliberation on the 3G service than it deserves," Commissioner Sethaporn Cusripituck told reporters Wednesday.

The NTC had said that it would announce the criteria by the end of this year and that telecom operators could apply for 3G licenses from early 2006.

Contributing to the delay was the Central Administrative Court's November decision to invalidate the selection of 14 candidates for seats on the National Broadcasting Commission, which is in charge of liberalizing the broadcasting sector, Sethaporn said.

The NTC and NBC areexpected to work jointly to liberalize the communications sector as the frequencies for telecom and broadcasting partially overlap.

Sethaporn said the rough draft of 3G criteria should be ready soon after a workshop on Thailand's telecom liberalization in February.

"But we cannot commit to when the completed guidelines will be ready or when we will be able to issue 3G licenses," he said.

The NTC decided to allow private firms entry into the country's three main Internet services - the Internet international gateway, the Internet exchange and voice over Internet protocol.

Currently, state-owned CAT Telecom PCL monopolizes Thailand's Internet infrastructure.

Sethaporn said that decision will take effect once it is enacted in the royal gazette.

The NTC was established late last year to oversee the creation of a new regulatory structure in the telecom sector ahead of the industry's planned liberalization in 2006.

-By Rattaphol Onsanit, Dow Jones Newswires; 662-266-0744; rattaphol.onsanit@dowjones.com

-Edited by Michael Kitchen and Mary de Wet

(END) Dow Jones Newswires"

Posted to the site on 28th December 2005