The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Telecoms, Media & Internet Laws & Regulations 2015 (8th Edition), a Q&A-style guide that provides a comprehensive overview of telecoms, media, and internet laws and regulations in 34 jurisdictions worldwide, has been published. Consultants David Duncan and Ahmet Yesilkaya of the Tilleke & Gibbins corporate and commercial group coauthored the Thailand chapter of this guide. The Thailand chapter covers the following main topics:

• Telecoms: Commitments under GATS, roles of the regulatory and competition law authorities and their independence, licenses and authorizations, public and private works, access and interconnection, price and consumer regulation, and numbering
• Radio Spectrum: Regulatory authority, procedures for authorization and allocation of spectrum between candidates, and fees and tradability of licenses
• Cyber-security, Interception, Encryption, and Data Retention: Legal framework governing state access to private communications, rules governing encryption, and call data that must be retained by telecoms or internet infrastructure operators
• Distribution of Audio-Visual Media: Regulations, distinction between linear and non-linear content distributed over different platforms, different types of licenses for the distribution of audio-visual media and their key obligations, and assignability of licenses
• Internet Infrastructure: Telecommunication operators and internet service providers defenses and obligations, “net neutrality” requirements, and the regulation of “voice over IP” services

This article appeared in The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Telecoms, Media, and Internet Laws and Regulations 2015, published by Global Legal Group Ltd., London. www.iclg.co.uk