Business

Thailand’s 3G gets court’s approval

Believe it or not but Thailand is actually the only Asean country without a commercially available 3G offer. Even Laos has one.

Published

9 years ago

December 4, 2012

Boris Sullivan

Thailand’s Administrative Court today refused to rule on a request to suspend the allocation of 3G licences by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission NBTC to three bid winners.

The Office of the Ombudsman earlier asked for the court’s decision not to issue the 3G licences to the bid winners, charging the NBTC with granting the licences without fair competition as stipulated by the constitution.

Believe it or not but Thailand is actually the only Asean country without a commercially available 3G offer. Even Laos has one.

The court said the Ombudsman was not authorised to file a petition on the case. In an auction on Oct 16, the NBTC awarded licences for mobile services on 3G spectrum to Thailand’s three largest mobile phone companies—Advanced Info Service AIS, Total Access Communications DTAC and True Move.

The bid results drew criticism and protests from different quarters of Thai society, including the Finance Ministry. The NBTC is obliged to issue licences to the bid winners within 90 days after approving the bid outcome. MCOT online news

via Thailand’s 3G services to move on after court’s ruling | MCOT.net.

So the 3G nightmare is over right ? Not so fast…Do you really believe this ? Thailand 3G debacle has been the most laughable and ludicrous Thai soap for almost 10 years.

Believe it or not but Thailand is actually the only Asean country without a commercially available 3G offer. Even Laos has one.

The long-delayed 3G service license auction has made Thailand among the last countries in Southeast Asia to fully deploy advanced wireless technology. The process has repeatedly been delayed due mainly to the absence of an independent body to regulate broadcasting frequencies, as well as changes in state administrations.

3G give away: buy one get one free

Now suddenly it appears that not only the 3G auction is 10 years late (not to say retarded), but it looks like another “Thai Special Menu” with no competition, odd priced packaged and hand picked guests. Now the big surprise: the licenses were actually dirt cheap, and the state body could have scooped up almost 16 billion bath more for the whole shebang.

Yes you got it right: the state and public companies had all the cards in hand and it took them 10 years to get ripped off by three rookies like AIS, TRUE, DTAC (not even a Thai company I was told). Where this country is going , I m asking you, if good ol’ state cronies no longer run the game after 10 years of depriving the public of a technical progress essential to our Facebook and Twitter daily life. Please do not mess this up again in 2022 for the 4G auction…

Business

Thailand aims to push its games and content industry

After almost a year under the pandemic, the number of game players in Thailand rose to 32 million and helped the market generate over a billion dollars in 2020, according to NewZoo, an international analytics and market research group.

Published

2 weeks ago

October 3, 2021

National News Bureau of Thailand and Headline Editor

Currently, key digital organizations involved in the economy are joining forces to push the Thai gaming industry, so as to attain the level of a regional hub.

(more…)

Investment

Thailand’s H1 Investment Applications rise 158% in combined value, BOI says

Japanese firms ranked first with 87 projects worth 42.8 billion baht, followed by investments from the U.S. with 18 projects worth 24.1 billion baht, and China with 63 projects worth 18.6 billion baht.

Published

2 months ago

August 9, 2021

BOI and Headline Editor

In the first six months of 2021, Thailand’s investment applications increased 14% from the year earlier period in terms of the number of projects, and 158% in combined value, led by increasing foreign direct investment (FDI) applications, sustained growth in target industries including the electronics and medical sectors, as well as in power generation, the Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) said.

(more…)