TOT Plc may recall its 470 Megahertz spectrum for developing voice and wireless internet broadband services after the collapse of StarCom, part of the consortium contracted for the upgrade.
The state telecom enterprise had signed an agreement with a consortium led by Starcom and Huawei to upgrade its old 470 Mhz analogue cellular system to CDMA 2000 1X, which could accommodate wireless internet and voice services.
Under the agreement the consortium would develop the TOT network, currently used by only 40,000 people, to accept 150,000 lines.
StarCom and Huawei took on an estimated 945 million baht (US$27 million) in investment costs over 12 years in return for marketing rights to 50,000 lines, while TOT would take the other 100,000.
But TOT spokesman Ratian Srimongkol said the consortium was now unable to fulfill the contract and that TOT was therefore considering recalling the 470 MHz spectrum.It has asked the Council of State for a clear interpretation of the contract if TOT revoked it and recalled the spectrum for use, given that StarCom has encountered financial problems and ceased operating, he said.
He said that TOT offered the contract to the consortium to upgrade its 470-MHz network to provide wireless public telephone services in areas where the fixed-line network has no coverage. TOT would receive a 15-30 percent share of revenue from the consortium to provide services for 150,000 telephone numbers, he added.
TOT still wants to upgrade the spectrum to digital using the CDMA 2000 1X technology.
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