Telecom firms to raise with NBTC concerns about auction

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) will hold the first public hearing on the draft of the 2.1GHz spectrum licensing terms and conditions on July 20 in a move to auction the spectrum in October.
True Corp chief executive officer Supachai Chearavanont said that the spectrum reserve price of Bt4.5 billion for a 5-megahertz bandwidth slot is too high, and that it should be set at B5 billion for a 15MHz slot instead.
“The NBTC should also adjust some licensing terms and conditions to give more room to licence winners, as [the winners] will need to heavily invest in the 3G network rollout,” he said.
He added that True is ready to bid for the spectrum. However, he opposes the auction condition that allows participating firms to bid for up to 20MHz of bandwidth out of the total 45MHz in the spectrum. If it turns out there are only three participating bidders, and the first two win 20MHz bandwidth each, the two will be able to dominate the entire market. “If so, the duopoly situation will cause the 5MHz bandwidth holders to gradually fall out of the market,” Supachai said, adding he would make his views known to the NBTC.
A telecom analyst believed the maximum 20MHz bandwidth condition would be negative for True, due to its weak balance sheet. There are expected to be only three incumbent telecom operators in the auction. Foreign telecom operators are unlikely to take part in the bidding, due to the industry’s still unclear regulatory issues and the market’s maturity.
Supachai said True would definitely participate in the auction, as it wants its own spectrum licence. Though its subsidiary Real Move already provides the 3G-850MHz service, it is on a retail basis at the consent of CAT Telecom. “Every company wants to have its own spectrum licence in order to enjoy full control of its own operation,” Supachai said.
Total Access Communication (DTAC) chief executive officer Jon Eddy Abdullah said DTAC believes the current spectrum reserve price is reasonable. As for other licensing terms and conditions, it is still studying the documents and will have comments on them at a later stage.
Abdullah added that DTAC wants to be in the auction to win the bid. “We have a long-term commitment to our customers. We want to bring modern telecom technology to Thailand and to our customers. Consumer demand, especially on data usage, is growing rapidly. Therefore, we see the 2.1GHz spectrum as an important part of our long-term business strategy,” he said.
Abdullah said that as far as the NBTC’s foreign-dominance prevention rules are concerned, DTAC has said all along that it believes the Foreign Business Act and the Securities and Exchange Act already provide adequate assurance on transparency for all operators.
“However, at the end of the day, the NBTC has to decide what would best serve the interest of Thailand, the Thai telecom industry and Thai consumers,” he said.

SUBHEAD
The watchdog’s telecom committee will consider approving the draft of the revised anti-foreign dominance rules this week. As part of the draft licensing terms, the 3G licence applicants are required to comply with the rules to be eligible to bid for the licences.
Earlier, Advanced Info Service said it would be better to revoke these anti-foreign rules, which could be used by any party to deter the NBTC spectrum auction. The market leader seeks between 15MHz and 20MHz bandwidth of the 2.1GHz spectrum to enable it to provide quality 3G service.
In a related matter, two state telecom agencies – CAT Telecom and TOT – are fighting to keep their treasured spectra with them after the end of their private cellular concessions.
This could affect the attempt of the NBTC to work out a complete roadmap for the industry’s spectrum reallocation.
According to chief executive officer Kitisak Sriprasert, CAT plans to discuss with the NBTC if it can keep the 1,800MHz spectrum totalling 25MHz bandwidth with it after its two private cellular concessions, held by TrueMove and Digital Phone Co (DPC), end next September. CAT has granted to TrueMove and DPC the 12.5MHz bandwidth of the spectrum.
The NBTC has affirmed repeatedly that all the state agencies will have to return the spectra they have granted to private concessionaires back to the watchdog for reallocation once the concession ends. TOT is the first state telecom agency that is urging the NBTC to clarify if its 900MHz spectrum will have to be returned to the NBTC or can be retained by TOT after its concession, held by Advanced Info Service, ends in 2015.