Thailand’s MCOT to build its own national digital network

Public broadcasting enterprise Mass Communication Organization of Thailand (MCOT) has decided to invest in its own digital network for the country, abandoning earlier plans to join with three other partners  to creat a single network.

The other three public digital-TV network providers, meanwhile, have their own individual network plans, Nation Multimedia reports.

Earlier in the year, MCOT, the Royal Thai Army’s TV5, the Public Relations Department (PRD) and Thai Public Broadcasting Service (ThaiPBS) expressed interest in the establishment of a consortium to run a single national network for digital terrestrial television on the existing facilities of ThaiPBS. 

However, according to the report, MCOT’s board committee has given the green light for the broadcaster’s plan to invest in and install new digital-TV transmitters at its broadcasting towers, which are currently used for analogue transmission.

This forms part of MCOT’s four-year master plan for migration to the terrestrial digital-TV era.

The MCOT source said the company would realise a profit from the investment within six operational years, while the coverage area would reach 95 per cent of 22 million households within two years.