3G mobile phone services to inject Bt100b into Thai economy

BANGKOK, December 4 (TNA) - Bangkok-based University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) has projected that 3G mobile phone services should inject up to some 100 billion baht into the Thai economy over the next couple of years. Thanavat Polvichai, Director of the UTCC’s Center for Economic and Business Forecasting, told journalists on Tuesday that the 3G mobile phone services should also expand the national economy by 0.5-0.7 per cent during the period and enhance Thailand's competitiveness, thanks to their advance technologies, which relate to the country’s introduction of digital television in the near future. Thanavat also aired his support for a proposed idea that 4G mobile phone services should be developed in Thailand right away to be beneficial to national development and consumers who will then have more choices; while the congestion of information channels will be relieved. According to the senior Thai economist, lessons from 3G service initiation could be applied to prevent legal disputes relating to future 4G services in the country. The director of the economic forecasting center acknowledged that the Administrative Court’s decision on December 3 on rejecting a petition on a recent 3G license auction, filed by the Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly breaching the Constitution, would support the introduction of 3G mobile phone services by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) and three mobile phone operators winning the auction of 2.1GHz 3G spectrum slots, including Advanced Wireless Network, Real Future and DTAC Network, with 3G licenses expected to be issued to them by the NBTC in the near future. (TNA)