The Digital Economy and Society (DES) Ministry through its legal panel is set to enter the arbitration process against SET-listed satellite service provider Thaicom for contractual breach in connection with satellite Thaicom 5. Thaicom has rented transponder capacity from foreign satellites to address the problem since early this year, following approval by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) board. Thaicom 5 is the main satellite and Thaicom 6 is supposed to be the backup. As Thaicom 5 has been out of service and Thaicom 6's capacity is fully used, this has raised questions about which satellite could serve as Thaicom 5's backup. Mr Anant said Thaicom 5 was sent into orbit to replace satellite Thaicom 3, which had an accident in the past.

Source: Bangkok Post June 21, 2020 23:26 UTC