Spectrum auction may include 900MHz
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission is considering including 900-megaherz licences in its auction of 1,800MHz licences scheduled for November 11.
Takorn Tantasith, secretary-general of the NBTC, said yesterday that the commission had approved the draft for the auction rules for just the 1,800MHz spectrum, involving a pair of 1,710-1,722.5/1,805-1,817.5MHz bands and a pair of 1,748-1,760.5/1,843-1,855.5MHz bands.
However, the NBTC will study the possibility of auctioning the 1,800MHz and 900MHz licences at the same time, he said.
The commission’s telecom committee will tomorrow consider the proposed starting bid of Bt563 million per megahertz for the 900MHz spectrum, which is equivalent to 70 per cent of the full spectrum value. The total spectrum features 20MHz of bandwidth, which will be divided into two licences valid for 15 years.
The 1,800MHz spectrum to be auctioned off was used by TrueMove and Digital Phone Co, whose concessions expired in September 2013. The 900MHz concession of Advanced Info Service will end this September.
The existing 1,800MHz auction plan features two licences, each with 12.5MHz bandwidth. The starting price is Bt11.6 billion or 70 per cent of full spectrum value.
If the number of bidders is the same or lower than the number of available licences, the starting price will be raised up to the full value of Bt16.57 billion. The licence term is 19 years.
Each new licensee is required to cover 40 per cent of the country’s population with its cellular network within four years. Each can hold no more than 60MHz. If it exceeds this ceiling, it must return the equivalent or greater bandwidth to either the NBTC or the state enterprise that granted its concession.
The NBTC will hold public hearings on the 1,800MHz auction-rules draft from July 18 to August 3 and is expected to publish the final auction rules in the Royal Gazette by August 26.
It will open applications from bidders by September 28, and close applications by September 30. It will disclose the qualified bidders on October 21 and award the licences in December.
CAT Telecom is also keen on transferring to the NBTC for its 1,800MHz auction the idle 5MHz of bandwidth held by Total Access Communication (DTAC) on the 1,800MHz spectrum, on condition that it will be allowed to use the remaining 20MHz of this spectrum until the end of its licence in 2025, instead of 2018 when DTAC’s concession from CAT expires.
The Information and Communications Technology Ministry will discuss this issue with the ad hoc National Digital Economy Committee today.
