THAILAND'S embattled telecommunications sector won a temporary reprieve yesterday after the government directed fresh talks to hammer out multi-billion-dollar compensation claims against several telcos, including Singapore-linked Advanced Info Services (AIS).
The claims, which could financially cripple the private companies, arise from a dispute between the Thai government and the mainly foreign-controlled telcos over unpaid access charges and contract changes made during previous governments.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the Cabinet had directed the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Ministry to hold talks with the companies over the next two weeks before reporting back.
'The negotiation aims to go back to use the original contracts,' he told reporters after the weekly Cabinet meeting. 'If the negotiations fail, the ICT Ministry will use legal options, including a lawsuit.'
The decision comes after the ICT Ministry had sought Cabinet approval for plans to negotiate with the telcos over the 214.7 billion baht (S$8.86 billion) in compensation that state-controlled phone company TOT is demanding mostly from Thailand's four telcos, including one state-controlled mobile operator.
After former premier Thaksin Shinawatra's ouster in 2006, a Thai court ruled that he had influenced changes to telco concessions that sharply cut TOT's share of profits under joint-venture pacts that govern mobile operations in the country.
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