Unused overhead cables in 16 districts of inner Bangkok will be removed this year in a new bid to speed up the process of moving all overhead cables into underground ducts, according to a decision adopted at a meeting today (Monday) between the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) and National Telecom Public Company (NT).
According to the decision today, unused and redundant overhead cables, covering 800km, will be removed. The work will be undertaken by the telecom service providers, who own the cables at their own cost.
For active cables, which are to be relocated underground, the meeting agreed to form a panel, comprising representatives of the BMA, NBTC, NT and Krungthep Thanakom, an investment arm of the BMA, to reconsider rental fees for the use of underground ducts.
Krungthep Thanakom wants to charge 20-billion-baht rental over 30 years to put all the overhead cables underground, but the proposed fees have been rejected by telecom service providers, who consider them to be too high.
The meeting did, however, concur that this is a matter that cannot be resolved quickly, because it involves a lot of details.
