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All four of the country’s major telecom operators have confirmed that they will submit documents to bid for 1,800-megahertz licences in the auction set for late this year.
Seven companies in the four groups, which recently picked up the bid documents, attended a meeting yesterday with the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, at which the NBTC provided more details on the auction rules.
The companies are Advanced Info Service’s Advanced Wireless Network; DTAC Trinet and DTAC Broadband, both units of Total Access Communication; TrueMove H Universal Communication, Hutchison Telecommunications (Thailand) and Real Move, all belonging to True Corp group; and Jasmine International’s Jas Mobile Broadband.
The NBTC has allowed interested companies to pick up the bid documents from August 28 to September 28, and they can submit bids on September 30.
The auction of two 1,800MHz licences is scheduled to take place on November 11.
In a related matter, NBTC member Prawit Leesatapornwongsa has defended the regulator’s original plan to auction two licences in the 900MHz spectrum on December 15. The 900MHz auction should not take place hot on the heels of the auction for the 1,800MHz licences, or there would be no meaningful competition among bidders in the latter event, he argued.
Secretary-general Takorn Tantasith said the agency’s board would consider the final auction rules this coming Wednesday, when it would be asked by the telecom panel to finalise the auction date.

HOTEL PRICES DROP IN FOREIGN DESTINATIONS
For the first time, hotel room rates in three world regions have overtaken those seen before the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, with North America, the Caribbean and Latin America setting new records.
However, the overall global rise was just 1 per cent in the first half of the year compared with the same period in 2014, according to the latest Hotel Price Index (HPI) from Hotels.com.
More travellers, higher consumer spending in key areas and strong currency fluctuations have contributed to the results.
Despite the rises, there was great news for Thai travellers because nine of the top 10 popular international destinations for Thais saw price declines, with Cambodia’s Siem Reap, which had a mere 1-per-cent increase in hotel prices, the exception.
The HPI is a regular report on hotel prices in major destinations across the world.

DOW JONES INDEX TO INCLUDE 13 SET FIRMS
Thirteen companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand have been chosen for inclusion in the 2015 Dow Jones Sustainability Emerging Markets Index, the SET said.
They are Advanced Info Service, Airports of Thailand, Banpu, Charoen Pokphand Foods, Central Pattana, IRPC, Minor International, PTT, PTT Exploration and Production, PTT Global Chemical, The Siam Cement, Thai Oil, and Thai Union Frozen.