(Bangkok Post via NewsEdge) The labor union of Thai mobile carrier CAT Telecom held a rally to protest against a decision by the National Telecommunications Commission to give an international call license to CAT rival AIS.
The union claimed the entry of AIS, the country's largest mobile operator, would cause CAT's outbound international traffic to drop by more than 60% in just over a week.
The union also questioned whether the international call service offered by AIS was subsidized and considered unfair competition.
But AIS president Wichien Mektrakarn said it had not yet offered international calling but was just in a trial period.
CAT union leader Wattana Eiambumroong said that since the NTC granted a license to AIS to provide international call services via the 005 code earlier this month, international calls operated by CAT had been directly hurt.
He said AIS did not notify its 20 million mobile phone users that while they pushed '+' for access to the service, the traffic was diverted to the international call service of AIS instead of CAT's 001 code.
In just 10 days of service, CAT's international call traffic dropped by 62%, he said.
Customers also complained to CAT about poor quality service, while in fact AIS handled the calls, he said.
AIS never advertised the services to the public, thus creating a misunderstanding and causing damage to CAT's image, Wattana added.
Wichien meanwhile said the company had told the NTC its trial service was just temporary.
© 2007 Bangkok Post
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