PM backs 1800MHz auction

While those opposing the auction have the right take legal action against it, the auction itself should proceed, he said.
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission will call the bidding for two 1800MHz licences on November 11, and for two 900MHz licences on December 15, amid opposition from CAT Telecom and TOT, which earlier held each of the spectra, respectively.
TOT’S labour union on Wednesday submitted a legal complaint against NBTC members, the NBTC secretary-general, and the now-defunct National Telecom-munications Commission, to defend the state agency’s right to continue using the 900MHz spectrum until 2025, which is when its telecom licence expires.
 It will seek a court injunction next week to suspend the NBTC’s auction of 900MHz licences.
The union also asked the court on Wednesday to make a final |ruling on the date on which TOT’s rights to the spectrum should end.
The choices are August 3, |2025, when its licence under the NBTC expires, and September |30 this year, when the 900MHz concession it granted to Advanced Info Service (AIS) expired.
In 2013, CAT filed a similar suit with the Central Administrative Court against the NBTC’s plan to auction the 1800MHz bands |that CAT had allocated to TrueMove and Digital Phone Co (DPC).
It has also asked the court to rule |on whether its right to the spectrum would terminate in 2025 when its telecom licence expires, or in 2013 when its concessions granted to both companies are scheduledto end.
In a related matter, NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith said yesterday that the watchdog’s telecom committee would meet early next week to decide whether to allow CAT to upgrade its idle 20MHz of 1800MHz spectrum bandwidth to 4G technology, and the extension of the spectrum term from 2018 to 2025.
The year 2018 is when the Total Access Communication (DTAC) concession granted by CAT is due to expire, while 2025 is when the CAT telecom licence expires.
CAT owned 75MHz of the 1800MHz spectrum, of which 12.5MHz of bandwidth was granted to both TrueMove and DPC, 25MHz to DTAC, and 5MHz to the NBTC for auction.
This leaves it with 20MHz of idle bandwidth.
CAT has threatened to seek a Central Administrative Court |ruling after November 11 to scrap the NBTC’s announcement to |auction the 1800MHz licences, should the NBTC telecom panel |fail to decide on its request for a spectrum upgrade.
 CAT’s acting president, Colonel Sanpachai Huvanandana, said|the state agency had consulted |the Council of State yesterday |over when the terms of all 1800MHz bands expire.