Analysts confident auctions of 4G licences will go ahead as planned

MARKET analysts believe that the auctions of fourth-generation telecom licences are highly likely to take place as scheduled this year, though there is still some concern about a possible legal challenge.

Sukit Udomsirikul, managing director of Maybank Kim Eng Securities (Thailand), said investors had high hopes of seeing the auctions, especially for the 1,800-megahertz spectrum. 

They might wait to see when the auction of 900MHz licences will take place. But in general the market believes the auctions of both spectra will he held, he said yesterday as one of the panellists at a seminar at the Stock Exchange of Thailand on 4G and its effects on the Thai economy, co-hosted by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) and Money Channel.

Waraporn Wiboonkanarak, senior vice president of KT Zmico Securities, said many believed the auctions would happen but might not feel 100 per cent certain, as the spectra to be sold off had been held by the state telecom agencies.

She personally believes that it is highly possible that the 1,800MHz licences will be auctioned, while in the case of the 900MHz licences, people would have to wait to see if TOT would mount a legal challenge against the auction.

Pisut Ngamvijitvong, vice president for research of CIMB Securities (Thailand), said foreign investors were waiting for certainty on whether the auctions would definitely take place. 

Speaking on the panel, NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith said he would propose two options for the 900MHz auction schedule for consideration by the commission’s telecom committee today.

The first option is to auction the two 900MHz licences on the same day as the bid for two 1,800MHz licences, on November 11. The 1,800MHz auction would take place in the morning, followed by 900MHz in the afternoon.

The other option is to auction 900MHz on November 12.

The NBTC previously set the 1,800MHz auction date for November 11 and a tentative 900MHz auction date for December 15.

The NBTC hired the economics faculty of Chiang Mai University to evaluate the economic value of the 4G licence auctions, the secretary-general said.

Based on the scenario that all four bid winners start their services early next year, the 4G auctions could create Bt150 billion in investment on related infrastructure over the next two years. 

There would also be more than Bt1.3 trillion in indirect economic added value created by industries ranging from hotels to health over the five years from 2016 to 2020, he said.