DTAC threatens to cut idle lines
SRISAMORN PHOOSUPHANUSORN KOMSAN TORTERMVASANA

Second-ranked mobile operator DTAC yesterday threatened to cut off telephone lines of its existing inactive customers if the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) does not grant it three million new numbers now. The threat came after DTAC had waited for months for the NTC to allocate new numbers. The regulator, meanwhile, explained that it needed to consider matters carefully before allocating any new numbers to make the best use of national resources.


Delays in the issuing of new numbers are common for the local mobile-phone industry, with customers always put at risk from operators' threats.


''If the NTC board could not approve the three million new numbers today [Thursday], we'll be forced to begin cutting off lines of our existing inactive customers who have made no outgoing calls for one year, starting from next month,'' said Sigve Brekke, the chief executive officer of DTAC.


''Also, we would have to stop our cheap promotional campaigns due to an expected shortage of numbers,'' he added.


However, Suranand Wongwitayakamjorn, the NTC secretary-general, said yesterday that the commission would be able to allocate new numbers to both DTAC and AIS next week, albeit not necessarily in the requested quantities.


Mr Suranand also attributed the delay to the lack of information provided by the companies to back their requests.


DTAC and AIS asked for three million new numbers each.


Mr Brekke said DTAC expected to face a shortage of new numbers again, as the 1.5 million new numbers that it obtained in November were expected to be sold out by the end of this month.


No specific numbers on inactive customers were released, but he said DTAC had around 1.2 million customers who had made no outgoing calls in 90 days, 300,000 of whom had made no calls in 30 days.


Mr Brekke said Thailand now had up to one billion telephone numbers, following a change from the nine-digit to the 10-digit numbering platform.


He urged the NTC to be always prepared to issue new numbers to operators, as telephone numbers were no longer scarce. Also, the NTC gains two baht per number per month from the operators.


DTAC pays 20 million baht per month for a numbering fee, while top-ranked AIS pays 30 million baht per month.


Mr Brekke also said that he would like to see the Information and Communications Technology Ministry address four specific unresolved issues: full implementation of the interconnection-charge system, an access-charge resolution, a clear definition of the NTC roles and authority, and a level playing field on revenue sharing.


He added the focus should not be on ''national assets'' but rather ''national interest'', in which consumer benefits came first and foremost.


In another development, DTAC yesterday introduced three refill-card platforms for its non-voice services. The prepaid top-up cards, touted as the first of its kind in Asia, should help increase the usage and traffic of MMS, GPRS and Edge services. A card valued at 100 baht is valid for 18 months.

Bangkok Post 23.03.07

It is only reasonable to cut idle lines, if they are not in use for ages. At the rate of what it cost for a new SIM and it's number, pretty soon all the numbers will be used up.

Almost everybody among the thai teenagers around here I know has at least three SIM cards each, probably two of them since months in need of refilling. To get a SIM card unblocked that hasn't been refilled they have to go to town, fill out a large paper and show their ID cards etc.

It's far easier to just buy a new SIM card than getting an empty one unblocked after it wasn't refilled in time. They should change their unblocking policy to stop this waste of numbers. But it eems to be kinda fancy to have a new number every few weeks for a teenager . . .
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