True, Cable Thai pick up spectrum auction info

To clear up the issue of whether the watchdog or the bid winners would pay the value-added tax, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission has sent a letter to ask the Finance Ministry, Pitjapol Jantanasaro, deputy secretary-general of the NBTC, said last week. The auction proceeds will be transferred to state coffers.
True had its subsidiary Real Future pick up the IM late last week. CEO Suphachai Chearavanont has said the company is eager to submit a quote so that it could provide 3G cellular service.
“Financing [for the bid] is not an issue as we’ve already secured the funding,” he added.

INTERESTED IN IPS
CTH chairman Wichai Thongtang said CTH picked up the IM to study if the 3G service could support its plan to launch an Internet provider service in local areas, but it needs to study first if it should enter the 3G cellular business, which requires extensive know-how in telecom technology. If it decides to enter the contest, it will have to find a strong partner instead of going alone.
CTH was formed by local cable companies to buy imported content on a cost-sharing basis and to provide selected packages to its members.
The first five companies were Advanced Info Service, its two subsidiaries Advanced Wireless Network and Advanced Mobile Broadband, and Total Access Communication’s subsidiaries DTAC Internet Network and DTAC Broadband.
The NBTC has set aside 45MHz of the 2.1GHz spectrum and divided the band into nine slots of 5MHz each, with the reserve price set at Bt4.5 billion each. A company can bid for up to three slots.
As the auction draw nears, some parties are rumoured to be mulling lodging a complaint to the National Anti-Corruption Commission against the plan on grounds that the terms and conditions appear to open the way for AIS, DTAC and True to conspire to grab one slot each. In that case, the bids would at best be only a little higher than the reserve price.