ICT Expo 2007 - Part 4
Planning for new technologies and fair use of the spectrum
By Jon Fernquest |
NTC commissioner Dr Prasit Prapinmongkolkarn talks about the fair use of the spectrum in this last installment of a four part series on ICT Expo 2007.
Vilaiwan Vanadurongvan, an advisor to Channel 7, warns that Thailand has to start planning sooner for new technologies.
In part I Dr Anuparp Teeralarp explained regulatory problems and criticized them severely. Life in in the world of rapidly emerging technologies just doesn't have to be like this.
In part II Dr. Sudharma Yoonaidharma told us that it is time for older regulators to stand aside and let convergence begin in Thailand.
In part III Dr Pana Thongmeerakorn focused on rule of law and unlicensed televisions that ignore laws.
There are some classroom discussions for all four installments at the end.
Proactive Planning for Future Technologies
Vilaiwan Vanadurongvan, an advisor to Channel 7, warned that Thailand is already late to digital HDTV broadcasts, slated for 2015. If that is the time frame for the switch over, then trial broadcasts should begin in the next three or four years. However, that will need production and broadcasting equipment and there must be a plan to subsidise reception equipment for the general public, who cannot afford the needed new digital decoder.
Nor is there any plan on how libraries of old tapes will be digitised and made accessible in the digital world. "If we do not have a proper plan, we will end up buying from outside and in the end our viewers will only look at Korean content. That will destroy our creative industry," she said.
Vilaiwan also strongly criticised the 10 year power vacuum without an NBC as originally called for in the 1997 constitution. "Is a merged or separate watchdog better? We as the private sector do not care anymore. Anything is better than 10 years of inaction. Just go ahead and do something. Anything is better than the status quo we have today," she pleaded.
proactive - early action on an issue (before it becomes a big problem)
HDTV - High Definition TV, television with a much higher resolution picture, more detail, more lifelike
slated for - planned for
subsidise - pay money to support
reception equipment - equipment for receiving broadcasts on the viers end
digital decoder - the small box next to the TV, that turns the broadcast TV signal into pictures on the TV set
digitised - changed into computer useable form
power vacuum - a situation in which no one has the necessary power to make decisions (so none get made)
watchdog - an organisation that oversees and makes sure that everyone plays by the rules
status quo - the currently existing state of affairs
pleaded - ask for change
Fair Use of the Spectrum
NTC commissioner Dr Prasit Prapinmongkolkarn spoke of the need for fair use of spectrum. The way spectrum has been allocated many organisations have huge swathes they do not use and the licences previously issued are indefinite in nature.
NTC advisor Direk Charoenphol spoke of how frequency needed to be managed by the people, for the people and noted that despite the constitution calling for the NBTC to be an independent body, some of the laws still refer to the ICT Ministry by name, which would seem to go against the idea of independence.
"The twenty-first century is all about ICT. Thailand needs to take advantage of it. We need to take the best things learned from the 1997 constitution and move forward, not reverse and start afresh every time," he said.
the spectrum - the full range of frequencies that radio and television can be braodcast over
swathes - sections, parts of a larger thing
indefinite - do not describe exactly (for example, exactly which frequencies can be used)
in nature - having has a basic and fundamental characteristic or feature
independent - no influenced by outsiders (such as businessmen or the military, or politicians)
take advantage of -
start afresh - making a new start everytime (forgetting everything accomplished in the past)
Answer Key:
1. For how long has Thailand been lacking a broadcasting and telecommunications regulatory agency?
Since the 1997 constitution came into effect ten years ago, the regulatory commission was never able to be appointed. Appointees were never approved because people objected to them, on conflict of interest grounds, for instance.
2. Was the roundtable on regulating under convergence a quiet subdued affair?
No, it was "explosive," meaning that people had a lot of critical and controversial things to say.
3. Who was the moderator for the roundtable on regulating under convergence?
Dr Thaweesak Koanantakool, vice president of the National Science and Technology Development Agency.
4. How did the 1997 constitution address convergence?
The 1997 constitution called for a government regulating agency that regulated both broadcasting and telecommunications: National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).
5. How is the NBTC divided up?
The NBTC is divided into separate telecommuncations and broadcast divisions.
6. How should the NBTC be divided up, according to experts? Why?
The NBTC should be divided up into separate infrastructure and content divisions because under convergence there is really no difference between broadcasting and telecommunications, or at least the boundary between the two becomes progressively more blurred.
7. What are the unregulated "grey areas" under current regulatory regimes? Why?
Multimedia over mobile phone networks and the internet such as pictures and video clips, are all unregulated because they don't match any regulatory agency's job description.
("Worse, today Thailand has a grey area that is nobody's problem. "Who regulates pictures broadcast over the Internet like the Camfrog web site or clips sent between mobile phones? The NTC says its not my problem as it is a matter for broadcasting. Broadcasting says that its not mine either. Can someone please tell me the name of the monkey who is responsible for regulating new media?" he asked.")
8. Why is Thailand currently wasting frequency and bandwidth?
a. Because operational and frequency licenses are tied together.
b. Advances in compression technology mean less bandwidth is used in broadcasting.
c. This has freed up bandwidth.
d. But this freed up bandwidth is not being used.
e. It is being wasted.
9. Is the idea of a "telecommunciations pool" of bandwidth that can reallocated a new idea?
No, it is twenty years old.
