CAT, TOT must be allowed to keep spectra, AIS says.

These solutions were presented in his college graduation thesis on how to solve industry problems after the concessions end. He said he spent four months on the thesis as a student at National Defence College talking with all parties, excluding True Group, to develop them. He has presented them to some members of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission.

Somchai strongly denied that his recommendation of these ideas to the NBTC was aimed to benefit AIS, the flagship cellular provider of InTouch, formerly known as Shin Corp.

He said the industry problems included the slowdown of mobile-network expansion by the private concession holders due to the approaching ends of their contracts. Some operators are seeking business partnerships with the state agencies that own their concessions to make sure they stay in business after the contracts end. Such partnerships might be created by circumventing laws and regulations.

After the concessions end, the state agencies, CAT Telecom and TOT, will also have no spectra to provide service if they are reclaimed by the NBTC for reallocation, he noted.

Therefore, he said, the NBTC has to make the issuance of the 2.1-gigahertz spectrum happen to usher all into the new licensing regime for fair competition.

The NBTC has announced that it will auction the 2.1GHz spectrum in mid-October. There are expected to be three bidders, AIS, Total Access Communication (DTAC) and True Corp.

Somchai said CAT and TOT must be supported in their quest to have their own third-generation wireless broadband networks to enable them to provide better service and gain more revenue.

TOT has already launched a 3G-2.1GHz service many years ago. CAT has partnered with True Group to offer 3G service on the 850-megahertz band. CAT, which has leased network equipment from True to wholesale 3G bandwidth, is negotiating to purchase this equipment from the corporation to serve its plan to become a network provider.

Somchai said CAT and TOT should be allowed to keep the concessioned spectra for five to 10 years after the concessions end to give them a tool to generate income. But it is up to the NBTC how long it will allow both to keep the spectra.

The NBTC is challenging TOT and CAT on whether they have the right to claim the spectra after the concessions end. The watchdog says the 2010 Frequency Allocation Law empowers it to reallocate the spectra for maximum use, while both state agencies say the spectra should stay with them to enable them to generate revenue. They have the backing of the Information and Communications Technology Ministry on this.

The concessions of TrueMove and Digital Phone Co under CAT will end in September next year, followed by that of AIS under TOT in late 2015 and DTAC under CAT in 2018.

Currently private cellular concession holders each pay around 25 per cent of gross revenue to TOT or CAT as concession fees, while the operators keep the rest. Somchai said this revenue ratio would be reversed if TOT and CAT were allowed to keep their spectra and rent them to operators. This model would see TOT and CAT gaining 75 per cent from the rental revenue of the spectra.

Somchai said there was one problem to which he had yet to be able to work out a solution: how to prevent political interest groups interfering in TOT and CAT.