NBTC expects fierce competition for 900MHz licences
Play
THE NATIONAL Broadcasting and Telecommunications Com-mission is confident of fierce competition in the bidding for two 900MHz licences on December 15, and the final bid is expected to exceed Bt30 billion per licence, NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasit
AWN and TUC both snatched licences on the 1800-megahertz spectrum at an auction last month.
Takorn said there were many factors prompting fierce competition. First, the two winners of the 1800MHz licences are unlikely to allow the final price of an 900MHz licence to be lower than what they paid for their licences at last month’s auction.
Second, the final bids at both auctions will be used as benchmarks for further auctions of the 1800MHz and 850MHz spectrum bands in 2018.
If the final price of the 1800MHz and a 900MHz licences is too low, the benchmark for the next 1800MHz and 850MHz auction will also be low, giving those waiting for the 2018 auction a price advantage over the winners this year.
Third, all four bidders are keen to acquire spectrum to boost their service capacity.
“Jas Mobile is keen to secure a licence in order to enter the mobile-phone service market, while AIS and TUC still need additional bandwidth to enhance their mobile data services. DTAC has plenty of spectrum, a total of 70MHz, but 55MHz of that will expire in 2018. Therefore, DTAC is expected to demand more spectrum as well,” Takorn said.
Upfront payment
The upfront payment for the 900MHz licences will be divided into four instalments, unlike for the 1,800MHz licences, which will be paid in three instalments.
The starting bid for the 900MHz licences is Bt12.864 billion each, equivalent to 80 per cent of the full spectrum value of Bt16.08 billion. All the bidders are permitted to raise the price in each round at 2.5 per cent of the |full spectrum value, or Bt322 million. Once the bid reaches 100 per cent of the full value, they can raise the bid by Bt644 million, or 5 per cent of the full spectrum value.
Based on these rules, Takorn said that if the bidding ends on the first day, the price was expected to be determined in Round 36 for a total of Bt26.066 billion per licence, or Bt43.454 billion per licence on the second day in Round 90.
The NBTC expects that the |auction could last at three days |or more, compared with two |days for last month’s 1800MHz auction.
