The board of the National Broadcasting & Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has scrapped its tender for the deployment of a broadband network covering 15,732 villages, which was previously set to get underway by April,
The move is in line with the resolution issued by the National Digital Economy and Society Committee (NDESC) last month, which approved the transfer of the project from the NBTC to the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES). Takorn Tantasith, secretary-general of NBTC, said the NDESC assigned the MDES a budget of THB2.6 billion (USD82.9 million) for the deployment – the amount is the remaining sum from the ministry’s budget to deploy a broadband network for 24,700 villages, which was completed by TOT in December 2017. The MDES now plans to commence work on the project in March, and is scheduled to finalise the construction work by the end of the year.