NACC to probe NBTC's handling of bidding

The board of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) yesterday resolved to set up a subcommittee to probe alleged irregularities in the 2.1-gigahertz (GHz) auction held by the telecom committee of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) on October 16.

 

The probe will focus on whether the auction failed to ensure genuine competition between bidders, and whether the telecom committee breached the State Bidding Act 1999 by rushing to approve the auction’s outcome. The Senate committee on corruption inquiries and good governance lodged the case with the NACC earlier this week.

 

The NACC’s board assigned commissioners Pakdi Posiri and Jaided Pornchaiya to be chairman and a member of the subcommittee, respectively. The nomination of other qualified persons to the subcommittee is expected to be complete next week.

 

The auction took place on October 16 and the telecom committee approved the outcome on October 18. The five telecom commissioners are committee chairman Settapong Malisuwan; Suthiphon Thaveechaiyagarn; Sukit Khamasundara; Prasert Silphiphat; and Prawit Leesatapornwongsa. 

 

Other parties have filed similar cases with the NACC, including Suriyasai Katasila, chief coordinator of the Green Politics group; and Finance Ministry deputy permanent secretary Supa Piyajitti, who sent a letter in an individual capacity to the NACC asking it to probe whether the auction breached the State Bidding Act 1999. The NBTC telecom committee itself also submitted evidence related to the auction to the NACC and other state authorities on Tuesday in a proactive move intended to demonstrate transparency. 

 

The auction outcome has been slammed by many parties for allegedly letting the three major cellular firms snap up three spectrum slots each at low prices due to a lack of meaningful competition, at major cost to the state coffers. The NBTC auctioned nine slots of the spectrum, each containing 5 megahertz of bandwidth, at a reserve price of Bt4.5 billion a slot. Each bidder was allowed to bid for a maximum of three slots. 

 

Advanced Wireless Network of Advanced Info Service paid a total of Bt14.63 billion for three slots, while DTAC Network of Total Access Communication and True Corp’s Real Future paid Bt13.5 billion each for the three slots they each acquired. DTAC Network will pay 50 per cent of the final up-front fee of the spectrum slots to the NBTC today, while Advanced Wireless paid on October 19 and Real Future on October 22.

 

Out of the nine 2.1GHz slots available, six went for exactly the reserve price of Bt4.5 billion each. Telecom scholars said mistakes in the auction’s terms and conditions that allowed each bidder to secure the maximum of three slots per company, coupled with the NBTC’s setting of a low reserve price, resulted in a failure to promote strong competition.

 

Yesterday, the NBTC’s telecom committee approved the creation of its own internal inquiry committee to probe the alleged collusion among the three bidders.

 

NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasit said the committee would start work next week and take 15 days to complete the probe. If the panel finds no irregularity, it would submit the results for the telecom committee’s approval. After that, the telecom committee will begin to consider granting the licences to the bid winners. Under the auction terms, the licences are to be granted to them within 90 days of their receiving the letters approving their bid outcomes. The NBTC handed the letters out to them on October 19.

 

The share price of Advanced Info Service closed at Bt203 yesterday, unchanged from the previous day, while DTAC closed at Bt89.50, up 0.56 per cent. True Corp closed at Bt5.50, up 0.92 per cent.