The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications revoked and/or suspended the licences of 17 telecoms operators for failure to comply with obligations. POST STAFF
The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications on Tuesday announced that it had revoked and/or suspended the licences of 17 telecoms operators for failure to comply with obligations.
Some operators failed to pay their income taxes for many years, some were inactive, while others reported incorrect revenue figures, the ministry said in a press release.
The companies were determined to be operationally inactive, employee-less, or non-compliant regarding their revenue shares and other obligations as required under their licences, or have failed to provide necessary technical documents, it said.
Telecommunication Regulator of Cambodia (TRC) spokesman Im Vutha told The Post that among the categories of licences revoked and/or suspended were those for mobile operators, internet service providers (ISPs) and broadband wireless access (BWA) providers.
Other types include those for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service providers and providers of network systems, and satellite positioning and navigation services, he said.
He added that all operators had their licences revoked except for BDKtel Co Ltd, which had its ISP licence suspended.
“Generally, all operators have an obligation to self-declare their revenues and taxes to the state every year. We’ve constantly reminded them – in an appeasing way – to voluntarily pay their taxes to the state. But they refused, forcing us to take legal action.
“Most of the operators that failed to comply with our regulations fell into the category of ISPs and VoIP service providers,” Vutha said.
The ministry added: “After their licence suspensions and revocations, the telecoms operators shall settle any outstanding debts to the [ministry] and the TRC, public debts, private debts and other tax obligations.
“In addition, these 17 companies will have to settle any claims by their employees, customers and related third parties in accordance with the laws and regulations in force in the event of disputes due to their licence revocations.
“[The ministry has time and again] notified all telecoms operators to comply with the Law on Telecommunications and relevant regulations in force. However, [it] noticed that some operators still refused to comply or failed to fully comply with the Law on Telecommunications or licence terms.
“As such, in the event that any telecoms operators choose to not comply with the Telecoms Law or abide by their licence terms, such operators shall face the possibility of licence suspension or revocation.
“This announcement shall serve as guidance for all telecoms operators to fully comply with the Telecoms Law, regulations and licence terms and as information for the general public.”
Two firms had their mobile service operator licences revoked – Emaxx Telecom Co Ltd and Cambodia Advance Communications Co Ltd (qb).
Asia Star Resources Investment Holding Group Co Ltd had its satellite positioning and navigation licence revoked, Cambodia Broadband Technologies Co Ltd had its ISP and BWA provider licences revoked, while Kingtel Communication Ltd had its VoIP service provider licence revoked (but still holds a valid ISP licence).
Aerospace Information (Cambodia) Technology Co Ltd, Lim Heng Group Co Ltd, TPLC Holdings Co Ltd all had their ISP and VoIP service provider licences revoked.
CN Xinyuan Interconnect Co Ltd, XNET Co Ltd, Saturn Holdings Ltd, ATA Telecom Co Ltd, PPIN Internet Co Ltd, HT Networks Co Ltd, DG Communications Co Ltd, DTV Star Co Ltd all only had their ISP licences revoked.
