Civil group calls on watchdog to stand up and reject True-Dtac merger

Promsorn "Fah" Weerathamcharee, representing a civil group for communication freedom, submitted a letter opposing the merger of True Corporation and Total Access Communication (Dtac) at NBTC headquarters in Bangkok.

NBTC Office acting secretary-general Trairat Wiriyasirikul came out to receive the letter.

In the letter, the group called on the NBTC to exercise its power to reject the merger deal on grounds that it would damage consumer interests by creating a near monopoly of telecom services.

The letter also expressed disagreement with the NBTC petitioning the Council of State, the government’s legal advisers, to decide on whether the commission has the authority to consider the merger.

The Council of State replied on July 27 that it would not accept the request for deliberation, prompting the NBTC to ask the prime minister on August 25 to order the Council of State to accept the request.

The civil group argued that the NBTC is an independent organisation under the Constitution and so should not bow down to the government.

It noted that Section 60 of the charter requires the NBTC to supervise telecom businesses to ensure free and fair competition by taking the public and national interests into account.

If the merger is approved, different service costs would rise in a range from 2.03 to 244 per cent as competition would be reduced from three major telecom players to two, the group added.

It also voiced concern that a merger would victimise small retailers, as the merged firm would use its own retail channels to sell SIM cards. CP Group, the parent firm of True Corp, also owns 7-Eleven and the Lotus retail chain.

On August 24, the NBTC voted 3:2 to ask the Council of State via the PM’s Office to consider whether the NBTC has the power to stop the merger.

A month earlier, True and Dtac executives held a joint press conference to declare that the NBTC had no power to stop the merger, saying the telecom law allowed the deal to go ahead without permission from the telecom watchdog. The two firms said the NBTC only had power to regulate the merged firm via consumer-protection measures.

The NBTC’s August 24 meeting also considered a joint letter from True and Dtac asking the telecom watchdog to speed up its decision.

True Corp has launched a public campaign on its TrueVisions network, saying the public would stand to gain from the new technology firm that would be set up after the merger.

The NBTC responded by publishing “five facts about True-Dtac merger” on its website on Thursday. The “five facts” indicated negative impacts from the merger.

The next day, True and Dtac complained that the “five facts” post had caused public misunderstanding, damaging their reputations and business.

The NBTC then hastily removed the post from its website.