3G Auction Faces New Challenge

[Lite Beer]

3G auction faces new challenge

Somruethai Subsomboon

The Nation on Sunday

BANGKOK: -- Green Politics group will ask court to halt bidding if reserve price not raised

Suriyasai Katasila, chief coordinator of the Green Politics group, has threatened to file another petition with the Administrative Court seeking an injunction blocking Tuesday's auction of 3G, or third-generation, telecom licences.

The court last week had accepted two similar petitions. They seek an injunction on grounds that consumers' rights would be infringed upon if the multi-billion-baht auction goes ahead without changes to its rules and regulations.

Suriyasai said yesterday that if the court did not issue the injunction today, the Green Politics group would submit another petition to the court seeking suspension of bidding for 3G licences on grounds that the Bt4.5-billion reserve price for a slot in the 2.1-gigahertz spectrum is too low.

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) is offering a total of nine 5-megahertz slots to bidders. Consultants from Chulalongkorn University recommended a reserve price of Bt6.44 billion per slot.

Suriyasai said that by failing to follow the recommendation, the NBTC had endangered the public interest.

"The NBTC should amend the starting price before it starts the auction process; it can be done in a few days. Within a week the auction could take place. We are taking this action to protect the public interest. We do want to have the new 3G network," he said.

Earlier, Anuparb Tiralarp, an independent academic, and a consumer-protection group filed petitions with the court seeking an injunction against the October 16 auction.

Unless the court issues an urgent order to suspend the bidding, the NBTC will go ahead with the long-delayed auction at around 9am on Tuesday.

The auction of 3G telecom licences was suspended once before - about two years ago, when the court issued a last-minute injunction citing the unconstitutionality of the bidding process.

The court said the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) - the NBTC's predecessor - was not empowered under the Constitution to hold the auction. In its ruling, the court said the charter clearly states that the country needs to set up a combined regulatory body for both the telecom and broadcasting sectors before any auction of the scarce radio frequencies for telecom and related uses can be held.

According to Suriyasai, the NBTC had no sound reason to reduce the starting price for spectrum bids by nearly Bt2 billion per slot - or 30 per cent.

Suthipol Tawee-chai-karn, a member of the NBTC in charge of the auction, said a further delay of the bidding would lead to a loss of economic and business opportunities amounting to an estimated Bt210 million per day.

But Suriyasai said the country would lose more if the NBTC went ahead with the excessively low prices for licences, which will be valid for the next 15 years.

Critics say the bidding criteria also appears to have facilitated collusion, as all three major telecom providers in the country are qualified to bid in a scenario that is likely to see each of them get three of the nine spectrum slots.

"In other words, it's a neat legal collusion scheme. All 11 members of the NBTC are well aware that the public have high expectations of their integrity and handling of this crucial auction, so they may also expect people to file complaints with the anti-graft body if there is corruption and collusion," Suriyasai said.

Besides the multi-billion-baht fees from auctioning off the spectrum, the process will lead to estimated investment in additional equipment and infrastructure to the tune of more than Bt100 billion in the coming years. The investment will boost data transmission speeds to at least 2 megabits per second - 5 to 6 times faster than the current network, proponents say.

-- The Nation 2012-10-14

[jcw]

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) is offering a total of nine 5-megahertz slots to bidders. Consultants from Chulalongkorn University recommended a reserve price of Bt6.44 billion per slot.

5 or 2.1 megahertz????

Maybe 6.44B 5 years ago when they should have been issued, now there is a 2 years life expectancy before 4G is the standard benchmark and 3G to be phased out, even in Cambodia.

[arthurboy]

What many people don't know is that AIS currently runs two 2G Build, Transfer and Operate (BTO) network concessions with TOT, the state operator. Therefore, AIS pays (shares) either 25 or 30% (depending on the concession) of all revenue to the state operator, and once the concessions end in 2013 and 2015, the networks and any remaining customers will automatically be transferred to TOT.

TOT is an extremely slow moving, antiquated organisation with a dinosaur management team who are simply happy to sit back and count the satangs as they flow in from the revenue sharing agreements. TOT lack the technical and management expertise to run the networks once the BTO's take place, meaning it will probably have to seek help and pay for it from a private operator (AIS) to run them.

Clearly with the advent of 3G, all operators will migrate as many customers as possible from the 2G spectrum, thus reducing any revenue and sharing going to TOT. Add in the operator costs, and that means there will be a big hole in many pockets after the concessions end.

On top of this, universal 3G data services and cheap smart phones mean that many people will also be able to generate or seek whatever information they wish via social networks, forums, chat services etc. and therefore, their version of the truth - whatever that may be.

So revenue sharing and increased operating costs, plus controlling the content and flow of information.

Money and power. Any collusion here to control these two?

[jerrysteve]

The biggest challenge is getting it to WORK....The current 3G leaves a lot to be desired...

[zakk9]

The biggest challenge is getting it to WORK....The current 3G leaves a lot to be desired...

Considering the fact that Thailand doesn't officially have 3G, it's rather impressive that it works at all

[Payboy]

It works in the sense that you see a 3G icon on your handheld instead of the Edge icon. No real change to the speed, in fact less speed than Edge in most area.

[Guest]

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) is offering a total of nine 5-megahertz slots to bidders. Consultants from Chulalongkorn University recommended a reserve price of Bt6.44 billion per slot.

5 or 2.1 megahertz????

5MHz slots on 2.1GHz.

Maximum is 3 slots per bidder. 15MHz is not wide enough for good 3G or 4G service.

[hellodolly]

"Besides the multi-billion-baht fees from auctioning off the spectrum, the process will lead to estimated investment in additional equipment and infrastructure to the tune of more than Bt100 billion in the coming years. The investment will boost data transmission speeds to at least 2 megabits per second - 5 to 6 times faster than the current network, proponents say."

Would it cost that much more to invest in 4 G and get even better speed. After all we know we are going to do it. Thailand can not continue to block progress and seriously expect potential investors to take them serious.

[thaicbr]

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) is offering a total of nine 5-megahertz slots to bidders. Consultants from Chulalongkorn University recommended a reserve price of Bt6.44 billion per slot.

5 or 2.1 megahertz????

5MHz slots on 2.1GHz.

Maximum is 3 slots per bidder. 15MHz is not wide enough for good 3G or 4G service.

That's what I thought. But a bit of checking showed that many countries use 15mhz. Don't forget they also have the existing 850 or 900 3g to fill in areas.

sent from my ..................#

[Guest]

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) is offering a total of nine 5-megahertz slots to bidders. Consultants from Chulalongkorn University recommended a reserve price of Bt6.44 billion per slot.

5 or 2.1 megahertz????

5MHz slots on 2.1GHz.

Maximum is 3 slots per bidder. 15MHz is not wide enough for good 3G or 4G service.

That's what I thought. But a bit of checking showed that many countries use 15mhz. Don't forget they also have the existing 850 or 900 3g to fill in areas.

sent from my ..................#

This came one of the first search results, when I was looking at the spectrum. In UK they have 2*15 or 2*10MHz slots. One for downlink, another for uplink.

http://www.solwise.co.uk/3g-intro.htm

I understood that the current 3G service providers have to pay to CAT for the usage of the 'testing' 3G networks.

Hopefully this will bring some new business models in the future. Use the 850/900MHz spectrum for home internet connections (unlimited data) and 2100MHz for phones and other mobile devices.

[jbrain]

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) is offering a total of nine 5-megahertz slots to bidders. Consultants from Chulalongkorn University recommended a reserve price of Bt6.44 billion per slot.

5 or 2.1 megahertz????

Maybe 6.44B 5 years ago when they should have been issued, now there is a 2 years life expectancy before 4G is the standard benchmark and 3G to be phased out, even in Cambodia.

The " I have no idea what this is all about but comment anyway and even tell them how wrong they are " Brigade.

[redroo]

3G

as with most things in this world you don't get what you paid for.

And you end up paying more to get it to work.

[muratremix]

in Turkey, leading operator paid around 500 million euros for 40 mhz band on 2.1ghz for 20 years!. Others were 25 and 15 mhz if i remember correctly.

450 million usd for 15 mhz in Thailand is simply crazy.

[spidermike007]

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) is offering a total of nine 5-megahertz slots to bidders. Consultants from Chulalongkorn University recommended a reserve price of Bt6.44 billion per slot.

5 or 2.1 megahertz????

Maybe 6.44B 5 years ago when they should have been issued, now there is a 2 years life expectancy before 4G is the standard benchmark and 3G to be phased out, even in Cambodia.

Cambodia, Laos, and of course Malaysia, and Indonesia have been years ahead of Thailand, when it comes to 3G service. A friend of mine who works for AIS told me the level of embarrassment and shame at AIS over being beat out by Laos is unspeakably high. Why this country is lagging behind is unfathomable. A nearly dysfunctional government is a large cause of many of this countries problems. If they do not start playing catch up, the future may not be very kind to this country which many of us love so much.

[ricku]

Cambodia, Laos, and of course Malaysia, and Indonesia have been years ahead of Thailand, when it comes to 3G service. A friend of mine who works for AIS told me the level of embarrassment and shame at AIS over being beat out by Laos is unspeakably high. Why this country is lagging behind is unfathomable. A nearly dysfunctional government is a large cause of many of this countries problems. If they do not start playing catch up, the future may not be very kind to this country which many of us love so much.

Interesting. So they do feel shame and embarrassment?

I've been under the impression that AIS, CAT (and the rest of them) simply don't know or don't care that their "less developed" neighbouring countries are way ahead.

Edited October 14, 2012 by ricku

[spidermike007]

Cambodia, Laos, and of course Malaysia, and Indonesia have been years ahead of Thailand, when it comes to 3G service. A friend of mine who works for AIS told me the level of embarrassment and shame at AIS over being beat out by Laos is unspeakably high. Why this country is lagging behind is unfathomable. A nearly dysfunctional government is a large cause of many of this countries problems. If they do not start playing catch up, the future may not be very kind to this country which many of us love so much.

Interesting. So they do feel shame and embarrassment?

I've been under the impression that AIS, CAT (and the rest of them) simply don't know or don't care that their "less developed" neighbouring countries are way ahead.

Oh yes, they both know, and care very much. It is a tremendous loss of face for them, that they are so incredibly far behind the curve. That is a fact, according to my friend, who manages on of their busier outlets.

[ricku]

Cambodia, Laos, and of course Malaysia, and Indonesia have been years ahead of Thailand, when it comes to 3G service. A friend of mine who works for AIS told me the level of embarrassment and shame at AIS over being beat out by Laos is unspeakably high. Why this country is lagging behind is unfathomable. A nearly dysfunctional government is a large cause of many of this countries problems. If they do not start playing catch up, the future may not be very kind to this country which many of us love so much.

Interesting. So they do feel shame and embarrassment?

I've been under the impression that AIS, CAT (and the rest of them) simply don't know or don't care that their "less developed" neighbouring countries are way ahead.

Oh yes, they both know, and care very much. It is a tremendous loss of face for them, that they are so incredibly far behind the curve. That is a fact, according to my friend, who manages on of their busier outlets.

Well I'm glad to hear it. That means they are not completely ignorant.

I'm a heavy smartphone user since 5 years back, and I'm still waiting for proper 3G.

I would prefer 4G, but I guess that is just a wild dream here in Thailand.

Edited October 15, 2012 by ricku

[kblaze]

The court just denied the injunctions! coming across the Reuters feed as I type!

[muratremix]

I still don't understand who will pay those extraordinarily crazy prices for 5 mhz? 4.5 billion baht is roughly 150 million usd.

In Turkey, government auctioned 45 Mhz, 35 Mhz and 30 Mhz bands in 2100 mhz spectrum for 358 million euros (45 mhz), 250 million euros each for 35 and 30 mhz. Time of lease is 20 years. There is no obligation to cover 80 percent of population in X years aswell.

Compared to Thailand, communication in Turkey is much more expensive and profitable. So I ask again, 1,35 billion usd (Thailand) vs 358 million euros (Turkey) cost of 45 mhz. And why the heck they sell only 45 mhz band in total? They plan to sell rest (65 mhz or so) for 4G in near future or what?

[spidermike007]

Cambodia, Laos, and of course Malaysia, and Indonesia have been years ahead of Thailand, when it comes to 3G service. A friend of mine who works for AIS told me the level of embarrassment and shame at AIS over being beat out by Laos is unspeakably high. Why this country is lagging behind is unfathomable. A nearly dysfunctional government is a large cause of many of this countries problems. If they do not start playing catch up, the future may not be very kind to this country which many of us love so much.

Interesting. So they do feel shame and embarrassment?

I've been under the impression that AIS, CAT (and the rest of them) simply don't know or don't care that their "less developed" neighbouring countries are way ahead.

Oh yes, they both know, and care very much. It is a tremendous loss of face for them, that they are so incredibly far behind the curve. That is a fact, according to my friend, who manages on of their busier outlets.

Well I'm glad to hear it. That means they are not completely ignorant.

I'm a heavy smartphone user since 5 years back, and I'm still waiting for proper 3G.

I would prefer 4G, but I guess that is just a wild dream here in Thailand.

I am here in the states right now, and the 4G is blazing fast. Clocked a speed of 50MB download the other day! Usually about 10 to 11MB down, and about 2.5MB up on the 4G network, but many places in LA are 15-50MB! Faster than my fiber optic wifi, or LAN connection. Amazing technology. Samui just got 3G a few months ago. Thailand is hopelessly behind the technology curve. Think of the crow the Thai tech people will be eaten when the LOS is overtaken by Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines, Burma and Bangladesh. Of course, they have already been overtaken by Malaysia and Indonesia, but we all know they are far more advance societies, in terms of infrastructure, GDP in the case of Indonesia, and per capita income in the case of Malaysia. It may only be a matter of time until Thailand is at the bottom rung of Asean, if their current direction continues.