Pol Col Suchart Wonganantchai will likely be chosen as chairman of TOT Plc's board on Wednesday, replacing Udom Puasakul, who stepped down from the position two months ago.
A board member who asked not to be named said Pol Col Suchart is a good choice for pushing up the organisation, with 16,000 staff to compete with rivals.
TOT will not be able to book all shared revenue under concessions on its financial statement from Dec 20, as the Frequency Allocation Act of 2010 requires all such revenue to pass directly to state coffers.
The company reported a big loss of 5.9 billion baht in the second quarter.
Advanced Info Service Plc is the state telecom agency's major contributor of concession revenue at 19 billion baht per year. Its 2G service under TOT's concession will expire in 2015.
TOT plans to have an additional 8,000 base stations for the expansion of its 3G network and some base stations for its 4G network. It now has 5,320 base stations for its 3G network.
The company is in talks with private firms to form partnerships that will help it find a new source of funds to support the second phase of its 3G network expansion. The funds will lower its financial costs as well.
Pol Col Suchart was an inspector-general in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Ministry under the Democrat-led government. He was then appointed a member of TOT's board in 2011 under the Yingluck Shinawatra government and is now director-general of the Corrections Department.
TOT president Yongyuth Wattanasin said the board meeting on Wednesday will vote to select its chairman among 13 members. Gp Capt Anudith Nakornthap, the ICT minister, said he cannot name the new chairman, as it is up to a vote by the board.
In August, Mr Udom decided to quit after serving nine months as TOT chairman. His decision was made after a poor performance evaluation.
Earlier, Mr Udom worked as director-general of the Public Works and Town and Country Planning Department. He has reportedly had a good relationship with Yaowapa Wongsawat, a sister of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Mr Udom in August said it was time for him to leave.