The Kingdom’s telecom regulator has revoked the licences of three internet service providers (ISPs) after finding that the companies were no longer operating.

Im Vutha, the spokesman of the Telecommunications Regulator of Cambodia (TRC), said yesterday that the licences of Acumen Cambodia, E-Cloud and G-Tell (Cambodia) Investment Group Co Ltd, which operates services under the brand name Mega, were cancelled after inspections revealed the companies had ceased operating.

“We do annual inspections on operators after they are granted a licence, and if we find they are not providing services, we revoke the licence,” he explained.

Mega was first warned by the TRC in May of this year when the company was given one week to present reasons for why it had gone inactive following fears that the company’s management had left the country. Vutha confirmed yesterday that Mega did not follow the government’s summoning.

“Acumen Cambodia and E-Cloud had their licences revoked because they had stopped operating and could not compete in the market and were facing financial shortages,” he said.

Vutha said the $10,000 licence deposit fee for each of the three revoked companies would be retained by the government to cover the unresolved debts or taxes of their operations.

“For those operators that have become inactive, we will continue to check up on them and revoke the licences in order to give space for newcomers who really intend to invest in the sector,” he added.

There were a total of 119,211 Fixed-line internet subscribers in Cambodia, and 8.5 million mobile internet users as of a May, representing 21 percent and 7 percent growth rate compared to the same time last year, according to TRC data.