The watchdog’s secretary-general, Takorn Tantasith, said the NBTC’s office soon would make the proposal to the NBTC fund, which was founded to support R&D in the area of telecom and broadcasting for public benefit.

The project will cover providing training to the start-ups, giving them financial advice and necessary telecom tools to develop their businesses. The move is in line with the government’s policy to promote tech start-ups as a new pillar of the digital economy.

“The NBTC fund is ready to |contribute in supporting the |government’s policy, as it has |both personnel and funds,” Takorn added.

He said the idea to create telecom start-ups was inspired by South Korea’s Creative and Innovation Park in Pusan, which provides business advice to incumbent and budding business operators.

The park has been successful in nurturing young entrepreneurs.

The NBTC fund has Bt30 billion, set aside from the telecom licence fee since 2013.