True calls for single auction
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True Corp is urging the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission to auction the 2.1GHz and 1,800MHz spectra at the same time, as such a move would provide options for prospective bidders.
True chief executive officer Suphachai Chearavanont yesterday said that holding a single auction would give a clear picture to cellular operators as to the future path of the industry, which would enable them to prepare investment plans accordingly.
He is confident that putting the two spectra in a single auction would not result in low prices, as the watchdog could still set a reserve price for the licences in order to prevent that.
The NBTC currently intends to call for bids on 2.1GHz spectrum licences in the third quarter of the year.
The concessions of TrueMove and Digital Phone Co (DPC) will end in September 2013, when their 1,800MHZ spectrum blocks will be returned for reallocation to the NBTC.
The auction of the spectrum should therefore take place before September, Supachai said.
The NBTC has yet to finalise a plan to deal with the ending of the cellular concessions, which will have an impact on consumers.
It recently said it would announce the plan one year before the TrueMove and DPC concessions expire. TrueMove and DPC have about 17 million and 98,000 subscribers, respectively.
Supachai said True was eager to see the licensing take place, and strongly denied that True wanted to derail the NBTC’s move to auction the 2.1GHz licences.
“We’ve never blocked the licensing. On the contrary, we’re keen to see the licensing happen as it is the way to further fully liberalise the sector,” he said.
True also wants to clinch NBTC spectrum licences to get more bandwidth in order to serve its customers.
“Though we’ve partnered with CAT Telecom to provide the 3G service on the 850MHz spectrum, this spectrum bandwidth of 15MHz will soon be incapable of serving rising mobile data demand,” the CEO said.
He added that clinching spectrum licences would enable True to have full control of the spectrum under the licences, and for it to roll out its own networks accordingly.
Under its partnership with CAT on the 3G 850MHz service, True does not have control over the CAT spectrum and has to depend on the state agency’s network to retail the service.
“Having your own licences means you don’t have to depend on someone else’s nose to breathe,” he said.
Meanwhile, the group is ready to defend the legitimacy of the CAT-True partnership on the 3G service, Supachai said.
A number of state authorities have investigated the legitimacy of the deal signed between CAT and two True subsidiaries, Real Move and Real Future, in January last year.
The Information and Communi-cations Technology Ministry is expected to conclude at the end of this month the result of its probe into whether the deal breached any rules and regulations.
The Senate Committee on Corruption and Good Governance recently concluded that the network rental deal between CAT and True group might violate the 2010 Frequency Allocation Act. The finding was forwarded to the NBTC and the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
Suphachai, who reaffirmed that the deal had been struck in full compliance with the law, said that whatever the investigations eventually showed, the case would require a final decision from a judicial committee.
