The Office of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) started the recruitment process for a new secretary-general on Monday, running to April 7.
A telecom veteran who requested anonymity said the new leader would face a tough task coordinating the agendas of commissioners to pass resolutions as they seem to lack unity and have conflicts with one another.
Trairat Viriyasirikul, NBTC's acting secretary-general, said the office announced the recruitment process on March 17, signed by NBTC chairman Dr Sarana Boonbaichaiyapruck. The selection process is expected to finish by the end of April.
Qualifications of applicants are divided into three categories, comprising general requirements, prohibited characteristics and specific requirements for the position.
All applicants are required to have knowledge and experience in managing one of several areas.
One option is experience as a civil servant or employee of a government agency, an independent organisation, a state enterprise or a public organisation, holding a minimum position of deputy head of a government agency with status as a department, or deputy head of an agency, or deputy chief executive of an agency.
A second option is experience as an executive, with a minimum position of deputy chief executive of a private organisation with annual income of at least 2 billion baht per year.
A third alternative is experience as a civil servant or employee of a higher education institution, holding a minimum position of associate professor, or a minimum administrative position of vice-president or dean.
Applicants must have been working in one of these positions for at least one year, up to the closing date of the application.
Mr Trairat said the NBTC chairman will select the most qualified candidate by evaluating the application documents and through interviews.
The selected candidate is then presented to the NBTC board for approval.
The new secretary-general has a five-year term.
Critical agendas
A source at the NBTC who requested anonymity said there are at least three agendas that need to be pushed by upper management.
First, the NBTC should deal with the two packages of satellite orbital slots that were unsold at the auction on Jan 15, said the source. The packages are for the 50.5° East and 51°E orbital slots, and the 142°E slot.
An NBTC subcommittee recently passed a resolution to allocate the unsold satellite orbital slots by this year through any method other than auction.
Second, the NBTC has delayed several times a plan to hold a 3500-megahertz spectrum auction, the most popular range for 5G adoption, said the source.
However, telecom operators are unlikely to be interested in this auction as they spent massive amounts on 4G and 5G licences, said the source.
Finally, the regulator needs to develop a plan for the use of the 6000MHz band and above to support 5G service, said the NBTC source.
