Foreigners 'mull 3G auction bids'
There is still a chance that foreign telecom operators will take part in the upcoming auction of 3G licences in Thailand, as the market is still attractive to foreign players looking for new business growth, Nokia Siemens Networks' head for Asia North, K
He added that many foreign telecom operators are interested in Thailand’s plan to auction the 2.1-gigahertz licences, but are unsure whether it will really happen.
The Thai market is still attractive in terms of local cellular operators’ monthly average revenue per user (Arpu) of US$7-$8 (Bt218-Bt249). This is higher than in Vietnam, where Arpu is $2. The high Arpu indicates that operators still have a chance to make revenue and reach break-even point in Thailand.
Global telecom operators continue to expand their businesses worldwide, wherever there is growth potential; they are not satisfied with just enjoying growth in their homelands, Krittika said.
However, support must be provided to the new players to enable their networks to easily roam with existing local players. This will help them get off the ground quickly, he said.
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) is drafting regulations governing inter-network roaming between existing and new players, as well as infrastructure sharing. These are seen as two crucial factors encouraging foreign telecom operators to participate in the auction.
The appropriate spectrum bandwidth for providing mobile broadband service is at least 10 megahertz per licence, Krittika said.
It has been speculated that only Advanced Info Service, Total Access Communication and True Corp will join the auction.
The NBTC intends to auction the 2.1GHz spectrum licences in the third quarter to provide 3G broadband cellular service. If successful, the auction would soon be followed by an auction of the 1,800MHz spectrum to provide 4G-Long term Evolution (LTE) service.
Krittika said smart mobile devices and social network content are driving mobile broadband service demand.
While there has been much talk about the fast growth of 3G networks and the uptake of 4G networks worldwide, this does not mean 2G networks will be out of use soon, Krittika said. To the contrary, all 2G, 3G and 4G networks will co-exist and complement one another, he said. –
