The most significant development in the Thai telecoms market has been the collapse of the 3G auction in September 2010.

 

Thailand remains one of the last Asian markets yet to fully adopt 3G technology, and subscriber growth for mobile operators is expected to be restricted in the short to medium term, as the mobile market approaches saturation.

 

The auction was agonisingly close to commencement before the Thai court issued an injunction, with the consequent suspension of almost all of the NTC’s operations, due to uncertainties surrounding its legal authorities and responsibilities, according to a report from Research and Markets.

 

The Thai government has been notoriously fickle when it comes to ICT development, often spending several years developing ambitious improvement schemes, only to have those projects neutered or cancelled due to conflicts of interest at the political level.

 

A national broadband network (NBN) scheme, aimed at creating a single broadband platform with uniform access and traffic carriage solutions that would make charging for services more affordable and transparent to consumers. It is a worrying notion that service providers could meet the same fate as the 3G auction if the government is unable to sort out its regulatory framework.

 

By TelecomLead.com Team

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