The NBTC has joined forces with the Digital TV Association and all public TV channels to organize the event ‘1 Decade of Digital TV’ Beyond the Next Step, a brainstorming seminar on the future of digital TV as ‘National Television’ before and after the license ends in 2029. The NBTC chairman stated that if there will be no digital TV auction in the next 4 years, the frequency allocation law will need to be amended and it will depend on the government whether or not to amend the law.
Mr. Suphap Kleekhajai, President of the Digital Television Association (Thailand), revealed that digital TV under the supervision of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has been broadcasting in the digital terrestrial system for 10 years. This year, the association, executives of digital television stations in the business sector and executives of all public digital television stations, with support from the NBTC, have agreed to organize the event ‘1 Decade of Digital TV’ under the concept of Beyon
d the Next Step today at the BITEC Exhibition and Convention Center. The activities and seminars of ‘1 Decade of Digital TV’ are the result of the first gathering in the history of the Thai television industry between the Digital Television Association (Thailand), the NBTC, the combined strength of 15 business digital TV member channels and 5 public digital TV channels, as well as important personnel related to the TV business, including station executives and program producers, to gather in a large gathering. The goal is for the event ‘1 Decade of Digital TV’ under the concept of ‘Beyond the Next Step’ to showcase the current and future potential of ‘National Television’, a major media that reaches Thai people free of charge and equally, which plays a role in the development of society. And is the main platform of the content that is truly Soft Power. The main objective is to disseminate knowledge and understanding of the role and mission of the NBTC with 20 digital TV channels over the past 10 years and the
vision for the future in the next 5 years before and after the private digital TV license expires at the end of April 2029. The goal is to make Thai society aware of the role and mission of digital TV, which continues to serve as the country’s main mass media amidst the rapid changes in information technology, which has significantly affected the operations of digital TV in many ways. While viewer behavior has changed, there are more options for receiving news and entertainment via social media, the operators and operators of 20 terrestrial digital TV channels still stand firm in their mission of acting as “National Television” as the country’s main media that society still trusts continuously with the highest responsibility towards society.”
Clinical Professor Dr. Saran Boonbaichaipruk, Chairman of the NBTC, Mr. Suphap Kleekhajai, President of the Digital Television Association (Thailand), and Mr. Takonkiet Viravan, Chief Executive Officer of The One Enterprise Public Company Limited, gave a special seminar
after 10 years of digital TV and the next step of the television industry in Thailand, ‘National Television’.
Mr. Suphap said that there are 4 years left before the digital TV license expires. The question is what will we do because it is an immediate problem. There should be an answer as to what will we do when the license expires. He himself believes that there should not be another auction because in modern countries, there is no auction but rather a selection of TV stations that are more ready to be granted the right to be TV operators. For the last digital TV auction, the Faculty of Economics, Chulalongkorn University, estimated that the auction would cost around 10 billion baht. However, when the auction actually took place, the NBTC received 50 billion baht from the auction from TV operators. However, what will happen if there is no auction? The law on frequency allocation must be amended to state that there must be an auction, which will take several years to amend the law.
As for Clinical Professor
Dr. Saran, he said that in 2029, when the digital TV concession expires, he still cannot answer whether there will be another digital TV auction or not because technology changes every year. Therefore, the NBTC and digital TV operators must discuss every year. However, if there is no auction, the frequency allocation law must be amended, which the government must agree to. We have to see what the government will do about this matter. However, initially, if there is an auction, the original operators will have the same opportunity to renew their licenses as usual.
While Mr. Takonkiet said that nowadays, people watch less TV, but that does not mean that people will watch less content or news. Content and news must be verifiable. Personally, I think that digital TV must continue because it is important to the country. We must walk together with the NBTC.
Source: Thai News Agency