Green light for 900MHz auction; TOT request turned down, source says
THE GOVERNMENT has given the green light to the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) to press ahead with the auction of two telecom licences on the 900-megahertz spectrum, a government source said.
The source added that the government had not granted the TOT request to keep its 900MHz bands after its concession with Advanced Info Service expires on September 30, as TOT already has abundant bandwidth, including 64MHz of the 2.3-gigahertz spectrum, 15MHz of 2.1GHz, and 5MHz of 470MHz.
Earlier Deputy Prime Minister Prajin Juntong had said he would talk with TOT on Tuesday and Friday on whether it would be allowed to keep its 900MHz bandwidth after the AIS concession expires.
The NBTC board yesterday approved the final rules for the 900MHz auction. The date of the auction is tentatively set for December 15, but the board authorised the NBTC’s telecom committee to change the date if need be, NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith said.
If the auction date is changed, the committee has to inform the bidders 15 days in advance, he added.
He said whether the auction date will be changed would depend on which date is considered the most lucrative. However, the NBTC wants to call the bids for the 900MHz licences as soon as possible, as the sooner the auction is held, the sooner it can bring in revenue for the state.
The NBTC will also auction two licences on the 1,800MHz spectrum on November 11. It is expected that having two different auction dates will affect how much upfront money is brought in. If the 1,800MHz auction comes first and 900MHz later, as currently planned, the bidders might not compete fiercely, as some may hold off and wait to bid for the 900MHz licences later.
Interested companies can pick up the bid documents for the 900MHz licences from September 24 until October 25 and submit their documents on October 26.
According to the 900MHz auction rules, the starting bid for a licence to 10MHz of bandwidth is Bt12.864 billion if there are more than two bidders. The minimum bid will be raised to Bt16.080 billion if there are two or fewer bidders.
The bid winners will have to cover 50 per cent of the population with their 900MHz telecom network within four years and 80 per cent within eight years.
