Price set for 1,800MHz
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The telecom committee of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) yesterday approved the starting bid price for licences on the 1,800MHz spectrum at Bt464 million per megahertz.
This is equivalent to 70 per cent of the full spectrum value of Bt663 million per megahertz. The licence term is 19 years, said NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith.
The Bt663-million full value was proposed by the International Telecommunication Union last year. The NBTC had hired the ITU to study the value last year as part of the plan to auction the spectrum in the mid-2014. However, that plan was delayed when the military government ordered the NBTC to put it off for a year. Later the NBTC’s working group preparing the 1,800MHz licence auction asked the ITU to study the spectrum value again and, the union proposed Bt603 million.
The NBTC is expected to hold the auction at the end of the year for 30MHz of the 1,800MHz spectrum, instead of 25MHz as originally planned, because CAT Telecom has agreed to return 5MHz on that spectrum currently held by Total Access Communication (DTAC) to the commission for the bid. - The Nation
Bangkok ranked fourth for affordable short breaks
For a short break, Hanoi offers the best value in the world for the vacationer's dollar, according to a study by the travel site TripAdvisor.
A three-day stay for two in Hanoi with hotel, two meals, taxi and tour or activity per day costs US$732.18 (Bt24,831), according to the survey.
Four of the 10 most affordable cities worldwide are in Southeast Asia, with Bangkok ranking No 4 ($822), Kuala Lumpur seventh ($914) and Manila ninth ($925).
Ranking second on the worldwide list is Warsaw at $739, while Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt was third at $820 and Mumbai rounded out the top five.
The most expensive international city was Cancun, Mexico, at $2,019, followed by Zurich ($1,945), New York City ($1,909), London ($1,877) and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic ($1,805).
TripAdvisor compared short city stays in 40 metropolises with costs being registered from March 27 to May 5. – DPA
Japan invests in VN projects
As of June 20, Japan had invested US$37.7 billion (Bt1.275 trillion) in 2,661 projects in Vietnam, according to Viet Nam News, citing statistics from the country’s Foreign Investment Department.
Of this, the manufacturing/processing sector accounted for $31.3 billion and 1,357 projects.
A total of $1.66 billion has been invested in the property sector.
Thanh Hoa province is the biggest beneficiary with $9.68 billion in 10 projects, accounting for more than a quarter of all Japanese investments in the country.
Hanoi is second with $4.1 billion in 661 projects, and Binh Duong province is ranked third with $3.85 billion in 248 projects.
The biggest Japanese projects include the $9-billion Nghi Son Oil Refinery in the Nghi Son Economic Zone in Thanh Hoa, a $1.22-billion Bridgestone tyre plant at the Dinh Vu Industrial Park in the northern port city of Haiphong, and the $1.2-billion Tokyu-Binh Duong Urban Area in Binh Duong province. – ANN
