True considers 3 funding options for spectrum bidding

The options are seeking support from shareholders, bank loans, and finding a strategic partner. If it chooses the third option, it will have to be after True clinches the spectrum, and the partner cannot own more than a 25-per-cent stake in the company.
True is waiting for the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission to finalise whether it will extend the period of payment for the 2.1GHz spectrum from three to five years.
The existing draft of spectrum licensing terms and conditions requires the bid winners to pay half of the price of the spectrum within 45 days after the auction, another 25 per cent in the following two years, and the remaining sum in the third year. The NBTC has yet to give its final approval to the draft, which was put for public hearing last month. True proposed at the hearing that the instalment period should be extended to five years.
True, which was founded by Thai agriculture conglomerate Charoen Pokphand group, is the only cellular operator without a foreign strategic partner.
Suphachai believes that the average cellular airtime charge in the era of full third-generation service after the auction will be cheaper than the present average call rates, as 3G providers will be competing on a real-cost basis.
The NBTC intends to auction nine slots of the 2.1GHz spectrum in mid-October. Each slot will contain 5 megahertz bandwidth, with a reserve price of Bt4.5 billion per slot. It will allow each bidder to vie for a maximum of 20MHz bandwidth of the spectrum.
Advanced Info Service (AIS) and Total Access Communication (DTAC) are in talks over a deal to set up a “Tower Company” jointly to invest in telecom-tower infrastructure for their own use in providing a cost-effective 3G broadband cellular service on the 2.1GHz spectrum. Suphachai said True was interested in the venture.