The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has again delayed approval of National Telecom’s (NT) proposal for licences to operate a service using a foreign satellite.
The move puts on ice NT’s long-awaited partnership with low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite operator Oneweb to provide gateway station facilities for Oneweb.
According to an NBTC source who requested anonymity, satellite operator Thaicom submitted a letter to NBTC to urge the regulator to carefully consider whether it should award a licence to provide gateway station facilities for a foreign satellite, specifically satellite broadband service.
The letter implies possible threats to local satellite service providers which spent a huge amount of money in their bidding for the right to use satellite orbits and shoulder operational expenses related to satellite…
