More challenges seen to spectrum auction

 Lawsuits are also expected to be filed against the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) board if the auction takes place and people are unhappy with the outcome.
 The first two legal moves against the auction were made yesterday. One was from telecom scholar Anupap Tiralap, who filed a petition to the Central Administrative Court for a temporary injunction against the October 16 spectrum auction.
 The court will hold an urgent session this afternoon to decide whether to accept the case for consideration.
 As part of his petition, Anupap seeks a court order for the NBTC to suspend the auction, pending its complete issuance of key measures to bring optimal benefits to the population, including the determination of a maximum 3G-service fee.
 He said the watchdog must also oblige spectrum winners to completely roll out nationwide networks to cover the entire population, without a big time lapse between roll-out phases and regardless of different areas’ income and service demand.
 He cited Article 47 of the Constitution in arguing that the spectrum must be allocated based on people’s maximum interest.
 As part of the tender’s terms and conditions, the winners of at least 10MHz of bandwidth must provide network coverage to 50 per cent of the population within two years, and to 80 per cent within four years. Anupap questioned why the auction terms did not determine coverage of the remaining 20 per cent of the population.
 Another case was made to the same court by a representative of the Consumer Public Protection Association, seeking an injunction to suspend the auction and asking the court to issue an order for the NBTC to revoke the name of DTAC Network, a subsidiary of Total Access Communication (DTAC), from taking part in the bidding on the grounds that it is allegedly a foreign-dominated firm.
 The filing also cited that DTAC chief executive officer Jon Eddy Abdullah, an American national, has management control over DTAC.
 DTAC Network, together with Advanced Info Service’s Advanced Wireless Network and True Corp’s Real Future, are the three prequalified bidders in the auction.
 
 Watchdog concerned about suits
 NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasit yesterday acknowledged that the watchdog was worried about possible lawsuits and scrutiny in the post-auction era.
 Moreover, he said that in November, the NBTC’s performance would be seriously scrutinised by a so-called “super-board” comprising of experienced people hand-picked by the Senate to evaluate the agency’s performance, in accordance with the Frequency Allocation Act.
 Some parties might level a charge of negligence of duty against the NBTC by citing Article 157 of the Constitution, he said, adding, “The board is concerned about all of these possible legal suits.”
 However, Takorn insisted that the board respected the right of anyone to seek a legal challenge at the Administrative Court against the auction, and said the NBTC was ready to clarify matters to the public.
 The terms and conditions have drawn criticism for allowing the three bidders to grab spectrum slots in what many expect to be a low-competition auction.
 The NBTC will call for bids for nine slots of the 2.1GHz spectrum, each containing 5MHz of bandwidth, at a reserve price of Bt4.5 billion apiece. Each of the bidders can go for a maximum of three slots.