A group of academics in mass communications has thrown its support behind the broadcasting regulator's move to impose a regulatory framework governing over-the-top (OTT) video.
The backing came after the first public hearing on Thursday held by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, said NBTC vice-chairman Natee Sukolrat.
Thirty academics took part in a group hearing with the NBTC's broadcast subcommittee as part of the working process for determining regulatory policies governing OTT.
The hearing followed the NBTC board's resolution on April 24 requiring that video-on-demand from OTT service providers be categorised as broadcast business.
The subcommittee expects to conclude a clear regulatory framework for OTT by August after hearing from all related parties, including media, academics, TV operators, telecom operators and OTT platform providers.
Col Natee said the academics raised seven key concerns with the subcommittee.
They consist of setting a fair competition environment between OTT and traditional broadcast companies; implementing measures to prevent improper advertising content on OTT platforms; controlling those OTT services that affect social perception; implementing a content filtering system; maintaining the same standards between OTT and broadcasters; imposing controls on illicit content; and educating people to learn about the risk of spreading "bad information" through social media.
Col Natee said the subcommittee will hold a group hearing with all TV operators on Tuesday to discuss the OTT regulatory policy. The subcommittee will also hold talks with OTT service providers this month.
He said no solution has yet been reached on OTT, including the definition of OTT service types, or what regulatory policies could govern content providers and OTT platform owners.
The NBTC has initially divided OTT business in Thailand into four types: independent OTT operators; pay TV operators that broadcast via OTT platforms; telecom operators that provide OTT; and some digital TV channels that broadcast their programmes via OTT platforms.
Independent OTT operators include domestic operators such as Hollywood HDTV, Doonee and PrimeTime, and foreign OTT operators such as YouTube, Facebook, Line TV and Netflix.
Pay TV operators that broadcast via the OTT platform include PSI and TrueVisions. One telecom operator providing broadcast via the OTT platform is AIS Play. Digital TV channels that broadcast their programmes via OTT platforms include Channel 3, Mono, Channel 7, Workpoint and Channel 8.