The Department of Look Who's Breaking the Law Now reported that dozens of police officers were guilty of violating copyright and other intellectual property laws; Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot claimed he had a list of 41 sergeants and officers expected to know better; he bucked the issue to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who is specifically responsible for enforcing such heinous crimes as chairman of the committee on the prevention and suppression of intellectual property violations.
The National Telecommunications Commission declared it is much too early and important to decide whether phone users can be forced to pay the so-called "reconnection fees" when they call from one service to another.
No. 1 yuppiephone network Advanced Info Service of Shingapore "refreshed" its post-paid service with a new slogan: Smart Life from GSM Advance; it also introduced four new subscription plans. No. 2 yuppiephone network Dtac of Norway turned its recession stricken gaze to the youth market, reasoning that young people are less likely to hoard their money in troubled times; the Telnor Pacific-area research department found, for example, that contrary to the prevailing view, 93% of Thai children would rather talk than text - and they spend 15% of their monthly budget on their beloved phones.
No. 1 yuppiephone firm Advanced Info Service walked away from negotiations with Apple, convinced that the US firm's tough restrictions made it impossible to sell iPhones in Thailand; for one thing Apple demanded a guarantee (translation: money) that AIS would sell 400,000 iPhones worth 30,000 baht each to customers who mostly are on pre-paid plans. Your CAT Telecom offered (again) to buy out partner Hutchison of Hong Kong and then turn the No. 4 yuppiephone company, 25-province Hutch, into a nationwide behemoth; Hutchison figures it might leave Thailand for six billion baht.
No. 2 yuppiephone firm Dtac of Norway wavered yet again over 3G service; CEO Tore Johnsen said he would spend 12 billion baht to expand the current 2G network, but might spend even more than that on 3G, especially if the National Telecommunications Commission actually decides to allow 3G service at some point in the 21st century. Dtac of Norway reported it gained 2.9 million new customers in 2008 and now has 18.7 million users.
Industry Ministry officials provided final proof they had studied Logic 101, although there was no proof they passed the course; their thesis was entitled, "Organic plants are used as pesticide; some pesticides are hazardous to health; therefore Thai plants are hazardous to health."
Software Park director Suwipa Wanasathop lamented that if only the government would set up an official body to evaluate early software projects, developers could borrow money to finance them.
Mitsubishi Motors said it was only kidding about keeping all workers busy into the foreseeable future; the company will cut production at Thai factories by 50% before June, lay off 1,100 temporary workers and cut the hours for all permanent employees. Nissan Corp of Japan announced it will give 20,000 workers worldwide the right never to come to work again, including an unrevealed number of Thais.
Mitsubishi Motors (Thailand) suggested the government might want to relax some of those requirements for the eco-car project; be a shame if it had to fire even more workers than planned, know what we mean? Toyota Motor Thailand said it was just kidding about keeping all its workers flat-out producing cars; the chairman for vice, Ninnart Chaithirapinyo, said he was looking for a few.... well, okay a lot of volunteers for early retirement; it would be a shame if he didn't get enough volunteers, know what he means?
Fatima Broadcasting International put Thailand's first high definition radio show on the air, the first real advance by radio services in the country in decades; HD will be on FM 105 at least until June, said assistant managing director Rawiwan Chinda; her aim is to take HD radio to 3G smartphones, assuming they ever start to operate here.
The National Telecommunications Commission said it was likely to remove its nose from the whole issue of mobile number portability because, well, there's no real money in it; chairman Gen Choochart Promprasit said he likely will hand the issue back to the mobile operators to deal with; he figured most consumers are more interested in topping up their pre-paid SIM card than in paying yet another fee to keep the same phone number when they switch back and forth among the cheapest consumer plans; president Wichien Mektrakarn of Advanced Info Service said that if he has his way, consumers will never get to keep their numbers when they show disloyalty to AIS by switching to another service.
source : www.bangkokpost.com |
