Fears of auction sabotage
Advanced Info Service (AIS), Total Access Communications (DTAC) and their subsidiaries picked up application forms for the upcoming 2.1GHz spectrum auction last week, an official from the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) said
However, the official added, one company has informed the watchdog that it was only interested in bidding for 5MHz of the total 45MHz bandwidth spectrum up on offer.
Potential bidders need to submit their applications on September 28. Each application will cost Bt500,000 and bidders need to provide a bank guarantee of Bt1.35 billion.
The NBTC is expected to hold the auction on October 15 or 16 and as the date comes closer, the watchdog is getting more worried that some parties will seek ways to sabotage it.
The NBTC has already set up four committees to handle the auction of the 2.1GHz spectrum, namely an auction preparation committee, a bidder pre-qualification committee, an auctioneer committee and a panel examining whether there are any connections among the bidders. NBTC has also released an "information memorandum" for the auction.
It is speculated that only AIS, DTAC and True Corp will join the bidding.
The NBTC is planning to seek bids for nine spectrum lots of 5MHz bandwidth each at a reserve price of Bt4.5 billion. Bidders are allowed a maximum of 15MHz bandwidth each.
Academics have voiced fears that three bidders might collude to grab 15MHz bandwidth apiece in a low-competition contest. If this happens, then the final price achieved at the auction would, at best, be only a little higher than the reserve. But the NBTC said the spectrum assignment stage would ensure that the bidding is competitive. The assignment stage provides for bidders offering the highest quotes to be the first to select their desired spectrum range. This follows the first stage of the auction, which is bidding for the spectrum slot number.
