public stage crackling Merger “True-DTAC”
Merger “True-DTAC It is a topic that people in the telecommunication industry started talking about since the government under the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) and began to bother again at the end of 2021.
As the days go by, the more clear the signs are that this round is not just a rumor. or CP Group Parent company of True Corporation Public Company Limited and Telenor Group The parent company of Total Access Communication Public Company Limited or dtac provides a one-roll online press conference table.
Both companies also emphasized May history write this pen down as equal cooperation. to restructure the organization to become a technology company Under the Hub Technology Strategy, under Section 146 of the Public Limited Companies Act B.E. 2535 (Public Company Act) will create a new public limited company.
Roughly named: Newco company that has gone to both assets, debts, rights, duties and responsibilities
hot to regulators likeBroadcasting Committee television business and the National Telecommunications Commission or the NBTC. although not directly related because the parent company of “True-DTAC” not a licensee but are subsidiaries such as True Move H Universal Communication Company Limited (TUC) and DTAC TriNet Company Limited (DTN).
but indirectly, when the parent company merged will definitely affect the children, with TUC-DTN will remain and the proportion of investment interests of other juristic personsTrue-DTAC It will continue to be an investment under Newco, so it won’t be easy.
Make the NBTC new set to unpack the box must contain in case of merger “True-DTAC” In the roadmap, the merger monitoring subcommittee was dropped. and drafting measures to supervise the impacts of mergers and acquisitions set by the NBTC and set up 4 new committees, namely
1. Legal Subcommittee 2.Sub-Committee on Consumer Protection and Civil Rights 3. Subcommittee on Technology and 4. Subcommittee on Economics to take care of this This led to the opening of the first group of limited public opinions, business and related industries on May 9th.
The first public hearing The atmosphere is intense, with business sectors, stakeholders. and related industries join the forum
However Sarun Phaloprakarn Head of Business Relations Department, Advanced Info Service Public Company Limited or AIS, first said that AIS is ready to compete freely and fairly. under the laws and rules set by the NBTC, but allowing mobile phone operators (operator) large in the country decreased from 3 to 2, thus reducing the choice of service both in terms of promotion, price, after-sales service including signal quality In this section, foreign platform providers (OTT) such as Line and Facebook cannot be replaced. Because OTT has to rely on the signal quality from the operator as well.
In addition, the merger will cause the HHI index to rebound. Originally, it was at a very dangerous level. At the end of the 3rd quarter of the year, the mobile phone market has an HHI index of 3,575 points, compared to the HHI set by the NBTC for standard competition at 2,500 points. Therefore, it is in a market with a monopoly player. and concentrated show that Although there is no merger The current market conditions are highly concentrated. At the same time, the competitive efficiency is already below the standard. moreover Upon completion of the merger, the HHI index will rebound as high as 4,706 points.
However, AIS is considered a victim. Because after the merger, the operator will hold more spectrum than the NBTC allows if this causes the shareholders to lose benefits. There may be further consideration of the Administrative Court.
“If the NBTC allows True and DTAC to merge. AIS sees that The NBTC should play a part in resolving the damage to the company as well. by AIS confirms that it is not worried about competition But there are serious concerns about the impact it will have on consumers, industry and the unfair spectrum holdings,” said Saran.
While the majority from entrepreneurs and industry associations They expressed their agreement with the True-DTAC merger, with small operators or customers saying support. In the next public hearing that With the remaining 2 operators, there is no need to hold stock. Importantly, dtac’s 5G signal does not cover all areas. while representatives from the association commented that The merger will create a company with Thai shareholders and make it stronger for Thai companies. As for the issue of service fees, it shouldn’t be an issue because The NBTC has been able to control prices well.
In addition, having a Thai owner, the information of Thai people will be stored in Thailand. No need to take out to store on foreign cloud.
while Dissrai Pinthadit A representative from the Thai Software Industry Association discussed that the concern after the merger was quality. It has been analyzed and found that in the past, True has come out with a variety of services, including 5G and artificial intelligence (IoT), while dtac itself has started to provide intermittent services, so the merger should be better. As for the price of service Agree that today’s service fees do not reflect actual costs. But it’s the price from making promotions, so if combined, consumers should see better promotions. another issue is about the promotion of startups Found that True has a role and a project to support startups, but dtac initially had a support program, but when new foreign executives came in, the project was abandoned. Therefore, being a Thai executive will understand more about Thai people
Jesada Siwarak, Head of Government Affairs and Business Relations, Ericsson (Thailand) Co., Ltd., said that the NBTC’s duty is to direct the economy, not just the law. How to increase the country’s gross domestic product (GDP)? The intent of governance is to create competition and fairness. It can be interpreted in two ways: supervision with equal standards. but cannot be equal because small companies cannot enter the market, or another type is supervision with unequal standards to help small people to compete equally Today, Thailand has less than 5% of the population in 5G. Should Thailand speed up investments to upgrade a country like South Korea?
Wuttichai Luengamornlert A representative of the Thai Chamber of Commerce said that it supports fair trade competition. and beneficial to Thailand Usually, many operators are considered useful. but in high-investment business lines If the market leader is far away Competition may not occur, the second number may not have the strength to invest more, and if the number 2, 3 cannot fully invest, it will not be able to create long-term competitiveness, which the NBTC should consider long-term. This big merger Both sides thought well. Regarding the benefits to consumers, I would like to leave you with that after the merger How will it benefit consumers? This is acceptable for mergers and acquisitions.
“The Thai private sector, the telecommunications industry The benefit of consumers must be looked at as important, which the NBTC has the power to control prices. Therefore, concerns about the rising price are not a concern because the NBTC is well regulated. whether merged or not You can see from the current call and internet rates. Thailand is already at the lowest level in the world, so the competition of entrepreneurs after the merger that are closer to the competition It will bring about equality and speed up investment. Improve service quality And finally, the customers benefit,” concluded a representative of the Thai Chamber of Commerce.
Closing the forum for the first public hearing
While there are still two public hearings left in the field of economics and consumers, the NBTC should have the power to oversee. and must look at the complete service for both upstream, downstream and related businesses You can’t just look at certain services in the telecommunication industry.
The NBTC will then summarize the opinions obtained from all three forums for the next sub-committee meeting. to be taken into consideration in the decision to summarize the content Propose a story to the big board make a final decision and forward their opinions to the Board of Directors of the Ministry of Commerce in the next order to take into account that Is a merger illegal?