The Ministry of Post and Telecommunications officially launched the
Telecommunication Regulator of Cambodia (TRC) yesterday in an attempt to
establish laws to control, and resolve conflicts among, telecoms operators.
The move is likely to come as a
relief to the eight telecom operators in Cambodia, because fierce competition
has caused lower profits for all.
Post and Telecommunications
Minister So Khun said the TRC’s establishment supported other regulations for
managing conflicts among mobile network
operators (MNOs).
Industry experts said forced
consolidation, under which operators would be told by a certain date that only
a lesser number of MNOs would be allowed, could take place, forcing some
industry players to merge.
Industry players include Mobitel,
operating under the Cellcard brand, Mfone, Smart Mobile, Hello, EXCELL, QB,
Metfone and Beeline. With a variety of
technologies and infrastructure, differing in both urban and rural coverage,
consolidation of operators is a matchmaking exercise likely to take place in
the coming months.
The establishment of a regulator
is seen as good news for existing MNOs because instead of all of them losing
money in what has been described as “a game of chicken” and “waiting for rival
operators to flinch”, there will be a chance for smaller numbers of operators
to make a profit.
Regulation of how much
telecommunications operators can give away in terms of free minutes is
expected, experts say.
So Khun said the creation of the
TRC had been partly the result of demands by Japanese officials who provided
nearly US$30 million in loans for the extension of about 400 kilometres of
optical cables to the Kingdom’s southwestern provinces.
Cambodia had more than 20,000
kilometres of optical cable, and mobile phone service covered more than 90 per
cent of the country, So Khun said.
“Optical cables are for sending
the voice. When we speak, the sound wave is converted into electrical impulses and transmitted through the cable,”
he said.
“TRC will enforce laws that
relate to the use of radio frequencies, monitoring and providing the licences
and resolving conflict between licenses.”
As well as eight MNOs,
Cambodia has 40 internet service
providers.
TRC chairman Moa Chakrya
said the establishment of the body had
shifted roles previously under the ministry’s jurisdiction.
“The TRC aims to benefit
operators and the users through greater fairness and transparency,” he said.
“We want to reform for the
better. This means we will manage other
regulations and what’s important to regulate.”
Rann Reuy and Stuart Alan Becker
Business & Investment Opportunities
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