The Ministry of Post and Telecommunications has urged internet cafes that purchase bandwidth from companies in Thailand to revoke their purchase agreements as the use of these services is illegal.
The ministry's Information and Technology Department Deputy Director General, Mr Khamphanh Souvannakha, made the comment yesterday in response to complaints from telecom operators in Laos that they are facing unfair competition from operators outside of the country.
Thai telecom operators transmit telecom and internet signals from the border town to one kilometre inside the Lao border, enabling internet shops in the area to subscribe to the service and sell cheap internet access to their customers.
There are seven internet service providers in Laos, all of which charge public internet facilities a higher price for internet access than Thai companies do.
Lao internet providers charge a high price for bandwidth, and want the government to protect the telecom industry from illegal encroachment by operators in other countries.
Mr Khamphanh said the ministry had invested nearly US$2 million on vehicles and equipment to detect internet shops that use a signal coming from Thailand. It is government policy to discourage such operations from using illegal internet signals from neighbouring countries.
“It is illegal for internet shops to pay for services provided by other countries,” he said. He explained that this had a serious negative impact on Lao internet service providers as they have to pay taxes to the government while operators in other countries do not.
Mr Khamphanh was unable to give details of when the government would order a crackdown on internet shops that use an illegally sourced signal.
He said one of the best steps the government could take to put a stop to the practice was to offer a cheaper and more reliable locally-sourced internet service, which would enable internet shops to operate more profitably.
He said the government had signed an MOU with a Japanese firm to connect Laos' internet cable to the undersea internet cable in Hong Kong, meaning Laos will no longer be reliant on internet links sourced from Thailand, Vietnam and mainland China.
Mr Khamphanh said this direct connection between Laos and the international internet gateway in Hong Kong was expected to be in operation before the Asia-Europe Meeting Summit in November. The direct connection will enable Laos to provide a faster and more reliable internet service, and will be a significant improvement over the current situation. At present, internet links with neighbouring countries are often disrupted, causing internet access in Laos to be slow or unavailable.
