Bt4.3 bn likely NBTC reserve price

The NBTC’s telecom committee yesterday selected three prices out of a total seven from the initial valuation of the 2.1GHz spectrum proposed by its working group. The three prices are Bt6.23 billion, Bt6.44 billion and Bt12.67 billion per 5MHz slot.

Committee chairman Settapong Malisuwan said it would select one of these three prices and discount its value. The result will become the reserve price for each slot to be available at the spectrum licence auction.

He added that the working group proposed that the committee work out a reserve price by basing its calculation on 67 per cent of the initial valuation. 

The telecom committee has yet to decide whether it will accept that proposal.

An NBTC source said the committee looked likely to select the second figure of Bt6.44 billion from which to calculate the reserve price. If it uses the 67-per-cent formula, the reserve price will end up at about Bt4.174 billion if the committee selects the first valuation, Bt4.314 billion if it selects the second, and Bt8.488 billion if it selects the third.

The working group comprises lecturers from Chulalongkorn University’s economics faculty the NBTC hired to work out both the 2.1GHz spectrum price and the reserve price.

The NBTC will auction nine slots on the spectrum, each containing 5MHz bandwidth. Each of the bidders can pitch for a maximum 20MHz. 

It intends to auction the spectrum in October.

The telecom committee today will also consider the conclusion by another subcommittee that the deals between CAT Telecom and True group to provide third-generation cellular service breached Article 46 (2) of the 2010 Frequency Allocation Law, which prohibits NBTC licence holders from allowing other parties to control their spectrum use.