Internal NBTC probe panel to be formed
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Will investigate alleged bid collusion
The telecom committee of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission meets tomorrow to set up an internal panel to investigate whether there was any collusion, as has been alleged, among the three bid winners in last week’s auction of the 2.1-gigahertz spectrum.
NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasit yesterday said Suvijak Nakwatcharachai, secretary to the House of Representatives, had agreed to chair the investigative committee.
The other four members are Songkla Vichaikatkha and Jitnara Navarat, who both members of the watchdog’s legal subcommittee, and two NBTC officials.
The committee will have 15 days to investigate the matter.
The NBTC’s telecom committee today will also submit all details of the auction and related regulations to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), the Department of Special Investigation, the Office of the Auditor-General, and the Office of the Ombudsman, for those agencies to examine whether the NBTC auction was in breach of the State Bidding Act.
Takorn added that the telecom committee did not want to wait for these state authorities to request evidence, preferring to provide information proactively to show its willingness to be scrutinised by all parties.
Pressure increased on the telecom panel on Monday when Suriyasai Katasila, chief coordinator of the Green Politics group, petitioned the NACC and the Ombudsman to check whether the 11 NBTC members had designed the auction in a way that contravened the State Bidding Act.
The auction for third-generation wireless broadband slots has been slammed by many parties, from telecom scholars to Finance Ministry officials, for letting the three cellular firms snap up spectrum slots at low prices, because of the lack of meaningful competition, at a huge loss to the state coffers.
Of the nine 2.1GHz slots available, six went for exactly the reserve price of Bt4.5 billion each.
Academics insist that mistakes in the auction terms and conditions allowed each bidder to secure the maximum of three slots per company, and with the NBTC having set a low reserve price, the whole process failed to promote strong competition.
The three bid winners were Advanced Wireless Network, a subsidiary of Advanced Info Service; DTAC Network, a unit of Total Access Communication; and True Corp’s Real Future.
Takorn said that after the internal panel completes its investigation, which should be by November 10, the main telecom committee would consider whether to grant licences to the bid winners. If it decided to go ahead, they would be able to receive the licences within seven days of approval.
The telecom committee will also present to the NBTC board on November 14 all details of the auction and the bidding results, for the board’s acknowledgement.
Meanwhile, NBTC telecom committee chairman Settapong Malisuwan said that auctioning the 2.1GHz spectrum was not a complicated matter, given that it had neither been used by private companies before, nor by any state agencies, unlike other spectra.
The telecom panel plans to auction the 1,800-megahertz spectrum in the near future.
CAT Telecom currently grants concessions to TrueMove and Digital Phone Co to use the spectrum for the provision of cellular service.
The concessions expire in September next year.
