Oct 16 set as first day of 2.1ghz auction
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission's telecom committee has selected October 16 as the date to start the auction of the 2.1-gigahertz spectrum bands.
It also determined that the auction could last until October 18 with the winners announced from October 19-22, said committee chairman Settapong Malisuwan.
The auction will take place at NBTC headquarters on Phaholyothin Road on cost of Bt20 million. ??
The NBTC will announce the names of pre-qualified bidders on October 10, and those who fail to qualify can appeal within three days of the announcement. The NBTC will take seven days to consider any appeals.
Five companies have picked up information memoranda on the auction: Advanced Info Service; its two subsidiaries, Advanced Wireless Network and Advanced Mobile Broadband; and Total Access Communication subsidiaries DTAC Internet Network and DTAC Broadband.
Pre-qualified bidders must adopt a silent period until the auction day to prevent any suspicion of collusion.
The NBTC will call bids for nine spectrum slots, each containing 5 megahertz of bandwidth at a reserve price of Bt4.5 billion. Each participant can bid for a maximum of 15MHz.
The terms and conditions have raised concerns from academics that the three potential bidders might collude to grab 15MHz bandwidth apiece in a low-competition contest. If this proved to be the case, the final prices achieved at the auction would at best be only a little higher than the reserve price.
