NT told to resolve raft of access charge disputes

The Digital Economy and Society (DES) Ministry has instructed the board and management of state telecom enterprise National Telecom (NT) to urgently seek solutions to network access charge disputes between NT and private telecom operators.

- KOMSAN TORTERMVASANA

The disputes are mainly related to access charge regulations, and they have been a chronic problem for NT for decades. The disputes involve a combined sum of more than 100 billion baht in terms of the compensation sought by both sides.

DES Minister Prasert Jantararuangtong said there are still 20 such disputes in total. Some come under the jurisdiction of arbitration panels, while others come under the jurisdiction of civil courts.

He said around 15 of the disputes are between NT and True Corporation, while the remainder are between NT and Advanced Info Service (AIS).