The labor union of Thai state-owned telco TOT has amassed to protest at the ICT ministry demanding that it be given 900-MHz spectrum from AIS’ expiring concession.
AIS concession expires in a week on 30 September. It currently has 17.5 MHz of 900-MHz. TOT maintains that under the BTO concession, the spectrum and AIS’ subscribers should be transferred over to TOT when the concession expires.
The union also demanded that the ICT Minister take action over the decision by the supreme court for politicians that found that the 6th and 7th amendments to the TOT concession were illegal in Thaksin Shinawatra’s conflict of interest conviction. The TOT union claims the loss to the organization at $2 billion (72 billion Baht).
TOT employees surrounded the ICT Ministry but the ICT Minister was absent and did not return from a cabinet meeting to face the mob.
Elsewhere, following the weekly Cabinet meeting, ICT Minister Uttama Savanayana said that the delay in prosecuting AIS was TOT’s fault. Uttama said that he had ordered TOT to sue AIS and he does not know when TOT’s lawsuit will be ready.
Uttama also told reporters that the cabinet had ordered the telecom regulator to move the 900-MHz auction up from December to the same day as the 1800 auction in November.
Meanwhile, there have been reports that SingTel group CEO Chua Sock Koong met with Uttama behind closed doors just before 4 PM. No details of the meeting were forthcoming.