Three incumbent broadcasters (ThaiPBS, MCOT, and the Royal Army’s Channel 5) were granted DTV facility provider licenses as they have analog broadcasting infrastructures nationwide. ThaiPBS, MCOT, Royal Army’s Channel 5, and the
Public Relation Department (PRD) were granted as DTV network providers due to prior experiences, expertise, and personnel. According to K. Terdpong (personal communication, June 15, 2012), a member of the Subcommittee on Digital
Switchover at NBTC, private telco operators may collaborate with incumbent broadcasters and serve as DTV network providers because mobile phone towers are suitable to function as ’gap fillers’ in solving signal attenuation of main broadcasting
towers. In 2013, the NBTC recognized three categories of application service providers, including SMS and electronic voting systems for TV and radio broadcasters, special services via broadcasting networks (e.g., home shopping, VODs, and interactiveTV), and media-research and audience-measurement companies (The Nation, 2013).