Plan for next spectrum auction soon
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The telecom committee of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) is expected to conclude the final plan to auction 900- and 1,800-megahertz spectra next month, according to committee chairman Settapong Malisuwan.
He said there were only two issues left to consider, including the reserve price. The other is whether to auction only the bandwidth on the 1,800MHz spectrum held by TrueMove and Digital Phone Co and 900MHz bandwidth held by Advanced Info Service (AIS) as originally planned or also include the idle 25MHz bandwidth on 1,800MHz of Total Access Communication (DTAC).
The NBTC will not specify the technology the bid winners will use to provide services on their spectra.
Takorn Tantasith, secretary-general of the commission, said the NBTC office would propose to the junta that it cancel its order that shelved the spectrum auction plan until July 17 next year.
Yesterday, the three cellular operators that won NBTC licences for third-generation service on the 2.1-gigahertz spectrum paid the second instalment of the upfront licence fee, a combined Bt11,134.69 million or 25 per cent of the total. AIS’s Advanced Wireless Network (AWN) paid Bt3,656.25 million (Bt3,912.19 million including value-added tax), while DTAC TriNet and True Corp’s Real Future paid Bt3,375 million (Bt3,611.25 million including VAT) each.
The three telecoms currently have 103 million subscribers, of whom 73.5 million use 3G. There are more than 33,000 3G base stations nationwide.
Somprasong Boonyachai, vice chairman of AIS, said the next spectrum auction would benefit the economy with new employment, investment and huge cash flows nationwide.
Suphachai Chearavanont, True’s chief executive officer, said the new licences would support the establishment of a firm infrastructure for both mobile and fixed-line broadband and would pave the way for the country to be a regional centre once the Asean Economic Community is implemented.
