Free Consultant
Refused!! Thaicom “declared” they are not in breach of Digital Ministry’s concession
It is just a beginning as the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (DES) submitted an application to initiate an arbitration proceeding against Thaicom (THCOM) after Thaicom deorbited satellite Thaicom 5 before the expiration of the concession agreement and promptly demand the Company to build and deliver a replacement satellite.
THAC’S NEWS & ARTICLES
![[THAC] SEO AUG C02 1 1200x628](https://thac.or.th/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/THAC-SEO-AUG-C02-1_1200x628-870x570.jpg)
![[THAC] SEO AUG C01 1 1200x628](https://thac.or.th/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/THAC-SEO-AUG-C01-1_1200x628-870x570.jpg)
This problem does not seem to end easily to the request of the Digital Ministry as Mr. Anan Kaewruamwong, Chief Executive Officer of Thaicom Public Company Limited, said, “The Company has acted in accordance with the terms and conditions of the concession agreement and has no obligation whatsoever to provide a replacement to satellite Thaicom 5, as demanded by Ministry of DES. Thaicom 5 has been down since the end of 2019 because it has long passed its service life and has to be deorbited in the early of 2020. The dispute arose from the contract terms that signed 30 years ago without detailed framework. The Agreement only focuses only on continuity in engineering. If Thaicom follows the specification as per the terms in the original contract, it will be as if it is providing 2G technology even though there is now 5G. Moreover, if the Government determines that we make an unqualified satellite, the Government must not accept the revenue sharing in the first place”
Mr. Anan further stated that “Prior to the deorbited of Thaicom 5 on 26th February 2020 , the Company has inform the Ministry of DES and NSBT that Thaicom 5 has passed its engineer lifespan. The Company also resolve this issue by migrated Thaicom 5’ user to the other satellite for the sake of service continuity. Further to thess, the Company also sharing the revenue from 6 satellites in the total of 13,792 million Bahts which is ten times more than the minimum requirement as specified in the Agreement (which is 1,415 million bahts)
Now Thaicom still have 2 satellite, Thaicom 4 and Thaicom 6. Their titles were transferred to Ministry of DES already and since their engineer lifespan are beyond the end of the concession period, the Ministry of DES can then manage theses satellite on their own,
Furthermore, Mr. Patompob Suwansiri, the Chief Commercial Officer from the same Company,also mentiobed Thaicom business plan that “ It will be divided into 3 parts, 1) Selling the existing capacity. The capacity in Thailand is already sold out while international capacity is still avalible, such as Thaicom 8 in India under delayed negotiation with Indian Government due to the COVID 19 pandemic. The Company also has plan to expand its market in conventional use to CLMV countries 2) the Company is still aiming for business and projects related to national security and 3) the Company is under the study of a new satellite that the details could not be further disclose yet.”
the middle of last year, the Company cooperated with CAT Telecom Public Company Limited or CAT to set up a joint venture company under the name Nation Space and Technology Company Limited to develop and provide new satellite services. This cooperation will expand the business and strengthen the telecommunication infrastructure.”
Mr. Anant explained further about the future business plan after the concession expires.
Furthermore, the Company has shown its financial statement in the third quarter that Thaicom has revenue from sales of goods and services at 918 Million Bah, down 22.7% from 1,188 billion baht in the same period of the previous year. The drop was caused by the decline in revenue from the decrease of satellite services, both general satellite and broadband satellite, with a profit at 77 million Baht. The financial statement during 9 months (Jan. – Sep. 2020) was down 24.5% from 3,640 million baht revenue in the same period last year.
No one knew how this problem will end as it is still at the early stage of the arbitration process. To continue with the story, you can follow us at www.thac.or.th.
Source : https://shorturl.asia/LQnRV
