FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

NBTC wants to find ways to lure 900MHz bidders

NBTC wants to find ways to lure 900MHz bidders

THE NATIONAL Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has consulted with the government and academicians to seek ways to encourage companies to participate in the upcoming auction of a telecom licence on the 900-megahertz spectrum, said a Gov

While it is clear that no small company will be taking part in the bidding besides the three incumbent private telecom operators, it remains to be seen how many of them will join the fray.
The NBTC’s telecom committee has reportedly been worried that the Big Three will shun the auction, mainly because of the lofty minimum starting bid of Bt75.65 billion.
The telecom committee approved the minimum price last week. It was the bid Jas Mobile Broadband (JASMBB) had made to win the licence in the previous auction late last year. Jas’s failure to make the initial payment of the upfront licence fee prompted the regulator to call a new auction for June 24.
Last week, NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith said that if no one joined the auction, he would wait to see how the government wanted the commission to |proceed.
As it stands now, the NBTC intends to keep the band for one year if no one enters the auction. If there is only one bidder, it will automatically win the licence.
Takorn hinted that if the starting bid of Bt75.65 billion has to be changed, it should be one of two alternatives. The first is Bt70.18 billion, the last amount unsuccessful bidder Total Access Communication (DTAC) offered in the previous auction.
The second alternative is Bt73.72 billion, the last bid True Corp made in the previous auction for Slot 1 of the licence package before it switched to compete for Slot 2 and won by bidding Bt76.3 billion.
True Corp chief executive officer Suphachai Chearavanont has kept mum on whether True will take part in the new round of bidding after already winning one 900MHz licence in the previous auction.
He has said that if the final bid in the new round is lower than Jas’ winning price in the previous auction, the NBTC should find a way to permit it to pay less. This proposal is also supported by Advanced Info Service (AIS) CEO Somchai Lertsutiwong.
A telecom-industry source said the NBTC might ask the government to look into this matter.
A telecom analyst said: “From 2011 to this year, True raised funds three times, totalling more than Bt138 billion. 
If True wants to acquire another licence, it will have no other choice but to raise funds again to pay the upfront fee.” 
If True does win another licence, it will be the only telecom operator holding bandwidth on the 900MHz spectrum, totalling 20MHz (10MHz under the licence it won last year and another 10MHz under the new one). 
The low-frequency band is technically suitable for providing cellular service upcountry.
DTAC operates a service on 10MHz of another low band, the 850MHz spectrum, under a CAT Telecom concession that will expire in 2018. 
The NBTC intends to assign this band for communications in the future high-speed trains. However, a future government might decide to utilise the band for telecom service.
DTAC has said that if the NBTC decides to go ahead with the starting bid of Bt75.65 billion in this new auction round, “it is very unlikely that DTAC will participate”.
The telecom analyst said DTAC might decide to wait for 2018 when its 1,800MHz and 850MHz spectrum concessions expire and bid for those bands at that time.
The cash-rich market leader AIS will have no trouble being able to afford to take part in the new auction after losing out in the previous bid. 
Somchai has said AIS is eager to bid for all available spectra but the final decision depends on the company’s board.
AIS has signed a memorandum of understanding with TOT to provide third-generation wireless service on a non-commercial and trial basis on the state agency’s 15MHz of the 2.1-gigahertz spectrum. They are scheduled to sign five partnership deals on a commercial joint service soon.
Somchai has said that even with the TOT partnership, AIS is still keen to bid for the 900MHz licence.
 
nationthailand