Digital Economy Ministry wants CAT-TOT merger to be pushed back by 6 months
A merger between CAT Telecom and TOT is unlikely to be completed by the original deadline of July, Minister of Digital Economy and Society Buddhipongse Punnakanta said, adding that the Cabinet would be asked to approve a 6-month extension of the deadline.
“Originally we estimated that the merger of CAT Telecom and TOT into a new state enterprise called NT Telecom would be carried out by July 14,” he said. “Considering that there is still much to do, we will next month propose to the Cabinet to extend the deadline to January 2021.”
Buddhipongse said the merger is more complicated than simply bringing two state enterprises together.
“We want NT Telecom to operate as a holding company with several business units, each staffed by experienced personnel in specialised fields. This would require a total overhaul of the organisation structure in both companies, while the human resources and labour unions of CAT and TOT must work together to efficiently allocate manpower to the new business units,” he said.
“The merger will also push for the use of 5G technology in all NT Telecom business units before any other government agencies, which will boost our capability in competing with the private sector to provide 5G services to the general public in the future,” Buddhipongse added.
A Digital Economy and Society Ministry news source revealed that NT Telecom would have two CEOs – Colonel Sappachai Huwanan, managing director of CAT, and Morakot Tianmontri, who will be appointed managing director of TOT next month, having succeeding Pipat Khanthong, who recently resigned.
