Thailand - Operators to be fined THB 166,667 per day for failing to provide mobile number portability

[bangkok post] The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) will start imposing a daily fine of 166,667 baht on each of the five telecom companies from Friday for failing to offer mobile number portability (MNP) service.

The fine will be charged on a double-scalable method each month, meaning the fine will be 333,334 baht in the second month and 500,001 baht per day in the third month.

The rate will increase continuously until the operators start offering the MNP, said Prasert Apipunya, vice-secretary of the NTC.

The rate was calculated from the estimated number of 100,000 customers using the MNP service per month multiplied by the average blended (postpaid and prepaid) monthly revenue per user of 250 baht of the five private and state telecommunications firms - AIS, DTAC, True Move, TOT and CAT Telecom.

"If the five companies start offering the MNP service in December, each will be charged a total of 30 million baht for the three-month delay, or a combined 150 million baht," he said.

The operators opposing to the ruling under the administrative order can submit their appeals directly to the NTC.

The fines will be paid to the Finance Ministry instead of the NTC's office in compliance with Section 64 of the Telecom Business Act of 2001.

Meanwhile, Clearing House for Number Portability Co, jointly established by the five companies, opposed the ruling, saying the fine is "overly high" for no apparent reason.

MNP, a common service in many countries, allows mobile-phone and fixed-line users to keep their existing numbers when they switch operators.

Mr Prasert said the imposition of the fine is in violation of the MNP regulations promulgated in the Royal Gazette in August 2009.

The NTC set last Tuesday as the deadline for MNP to take effect, yet no operator has been ready.

Premon Pinskul, chairman of Clearing House for Number Portability, said the fine was "too high" and not based on valid reasons and appropriate database.

But whether the operators will take legal action against the NTC is at their own discretion, said Mr Premon, also deputy chief financial officer of DTAC. He insisted the operators could not meet the deadline as they are still testing the system among themselves.

But the clearing house would be able to launch the MNP in early November, one month ahead of their initial commitment, now that the testing results so far have gone smoothly, with no major interruptions or technical problems, Mr Premon said.

The clearing house, with two million baht in registered capital, will operate the MNP service. The five operators each invest U$10 million for equipment and software platforms.

Telcordia is providing the hardware and software for the new company in exchange for a partnership in the clearing house venture. It will also handle all MNP traffic and earn transaction fees.

Customers will be charged no more than 99 baht to transfer their old numbers to new operators and the switch should be completed within three working days.

Meanwhile, Natee Sukonrat, an NTC member, said the NTC's 3G committee has reversed its decision and will broadcast the 3G auction real-time instead of with a two-hour delay it planned earlier. The decision, which came after a discussion with stock market regulators, is intended to avoid scepticism over possible collusion among the bidders.