NBTC auction probe panel may need more time

The spectrum will be used for third-generation cellular service.
The NBTC probe subcommittee convened for the first time on Tuesday and will call in the three bid winners for an inquiry soon. It is scheduled to wrap up the probe results by November 10, but the deadline can be extended by 15 days, if necessary.
Takorn Tantasit, secretary-general of the NBTC, yesterday said he had learned from the subcommittee that it suspected collusion between two of the three bid winners as both failed to enter higher bids, but he declined to specify the two companies in question.
However, subcommittee chairman Suvijak Nakwatcharachai responded by saying his panel had yet to conclude anything at all, as it had only just finished establishing the framework of |the probe.
On Monday, the three bid winners – Advanced Wireless Network, a subsidiary of Advanced Info Service (AIS); DTAC Network, a unit of Total Access Communication (DTAC); and True Corp’s Real Future – jointly refuted all public allegations of bid collusion.
Advanced Wireless Network paid a total of Bt14.63 billion for three slots at the auction, while DTAC Network and Real Future each paid only Bt13.5 billion for the three slots they each acquired – or Bt4.5 billion per slot, the same as the reserve price.
True vice chairman Athueck Asvanund yesterday denied any collusion on his company’s part, insisting that Real Future had bid in strict accordance with what was allowed by the auction rules. DTAC chief corporate affairs officer Darmp Sukonthasap also spoke yesterday and insisted that there had been no collusion among the bidders.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Once the final results of the NBTC probe are available, they will be submitted for consideration by the watchdog’s telecom committee and the National Anti-Corruption Commission, which is examining whether the telecom panel’s approval of the bid outcome breaches the State Bidding Act of 1999.
Takorn said he could not tell at this stage what the watchdog would do if collusion were to be found. When asked what would happen if the three bid winners were to sue the NBTC if it changed or annulled the auction outcome, he said the watchdog would accept such a legal challenge and the results of any subsequent ruling.
Under the auction terms, the telecom committee has to grant the licences within 90 days of approving the bid outcome on October 18.
Telecom scholars said mistakes in the auction terms and conditions that allowed each bidder to secure the maximum of three slots per company, coupled with the NBTC’s setting of a low reserve price, had resulted in a failure to promote strong competition. AIS’s share price yesterday closed at Bt197.50, down 1.25 per cent, while that of DTAC dropped 1.42 per cent to close at Bt86.75. True’s stock price ended the day unchanged at Bt5.10.
Four members of the NBTC telecom committee yesterday submitted to the ombudsman evidence to show that the panel has the authority to approve the auction outcome. The committee had proactively submitted evidence last month.
At least three parties recently petitioned the ombudsman to scrutinise whether the telecom committee has the authority to approve the auction outcome.
The ombudsman is expected to decide next week whether to forward the case for court consideration. This would be conducted by either the Central Administrative Court or the Constitution Court.