“We hope that this new scheme will encourage providers of satellite TV platforms to carry both standard and high-definition digital channels for their customers,” Natee Sukonrat, chairman of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission’s broadcasting Committee, said yesterday.

Under this relief measure for struggling TV broadcasters, all terrestrial-based digital-TV operators would have the opportunity to get a full deduction for the cost of transmitting their programmes through satellite networks, which is governed by the “must carry” rule.

This rule aims to ensure that satellite-TV subscribers can access all digital free-TV channels.

In the meantime, operators of satellite-TV networks carrying digital TV programmes will also be eligible for the tax break. The broadcasting committee also approved the new rates for the annual fee collected for the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Research and Development Fund for Public Interest.

Pakdee Manaves, deputy secretary-general of the NBTC, said the new rates aimed to help broadcasters survive the economic downturn, but would not be retroactive.

No digital-TV broadcaster has paid this fee, which is currently a fixed rate of 2 per cent of gross revenue.

The new rates will step up from 0.50 per cent of revenue up to Bt5 million, to 0.75 per cent of Bt5 million to Bt50 million, 1 per cent of Bt50 million to Bt500 million, 1.35 per cent of Bt500 million to Bt1 billion and 2 per cent of Bt1 billion and over.