Singtel's Thai associate to pay $1.4b over dispute

Amended terms in a service agreement allegedly resulted in lost earnings for telecom company TOT.

Thai mobile operator Advanced Info Service (AIS), one of Singtel’s partners, has been ordered to pay $1.4b (31.1b baht) by an arbitral tribunal as a settlement for its dispute with Thai state-owned telecommunications company TOT, according to Singtel’s bourse filing.

The dispute dates back to September 2015, when TOT claimed that AIS owed the company additional payment in its assertion that amendment 6 and 7 in the companies’ service agreement were unlawful. The two terms which were amended in 2001 and 2002, respectively, pertain to the reduction of revenue sharing in prepaid, and the deduction of roaming expense, which TOT claimed has resulted in a loss of benefit.

The arbitral tribunal has ordered a 1.25% interest per month commencing from 30 November 2015 on top of the main order.

AIS said that it disagrees with such order on the lack of lawful basis, and would proceed to submit a request for revocation to the central administrative court.