Last week, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NCBT) rejected a request from the Ministry of Health for a subsidy of 3.85 billion baht for the development of the Universal Telemedicine System.
Under the NKVT Law, government agencies are allowed to request a share of the telecommunications regulator's income from license fees for projects of public interest. The source said the Ministry of Health is seeking 3.85 billion baht to fund its Universal Telemedicine Coverage project.
The four commissioners who voted against the project stated that the funds would be spent on the purchase of information technology equipment, and not on the development of a telecommunications network. They believe that the NKVT should invest only a few million baht in the installation of a telecommunications network, and the rest of the costs should be covered by the ministry.
The source also said that the NKVT suggested that the ministry redraft its request, limiting itself only to the cost of the telecommunications network, but this proposal was ignored, which led to the rejection of the request. However, at the next meeting, the NKVT is ready to consider a project to expand telecommunications networks for sub-district hospitals.
The source stressed that the NCVT uses the same criteria to consider budget requests from all government agencies. For example, it turned down a request from the Royal Thai Army to fund the purchase of a fleet of drones because it was not related to telecommunications networks.
