The 3G process has finally started in Thailand, but the hybrid licensing/concession regime will be costly and cumbersome for operators, according to DTAC CEO Tore Johnsen.
“The 3G licensing system has fees… that are substantially lower than what we pay today in revenue share,” he said in the keynote at the GSMA's annual Asian roaming conference.
“This puts a lot pressure on everyone to change, because you have to adjust to a licensing system, which is common in most countries, but we still have the old system in parallel.”
He said the old system was still in place, making the introduction of the new regime more complex, more cumbersome and more expensive than in other countries.
Johnsen said that while the country's existing mobile concessions expire between 2013 and 2018 and will be converted to licenses or terminated, Thailand needed to enter into a complete licensing regime.
“There is still a ways to go on this. The Minister of Finance and the Ministry of ICT are both working on it. If that happens, it would make the systems much easier and you could offer even more competitive pricing than with two different systems,” he said.
“But we are willing to take on the challenge because consumers in Thailand will benefit from the launch of wireless broadband access.”
MORE ARTICLES ON 3G AUCTION, DTAC, THAILAND, THAILAND 3G, TORE JOHNSEN
RELATED VIDEO: Concession conversion needed for level playing field -- DTAC