Controversial 3G Auction Gets Official Stamp Of Approval: Thailand

[webfact]

Controversial 3G auction gets official stamp of approval

BANGKOK, Oct 18 – Thailand’s telecom committee today endorsed the results of Tuesday’s third-generation (3G) mobile auction amid a bombardment of criticism from academics and other quarters of Thai society.

The five-member telecom committee under the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) voted 4-1 to approve the auction and awarding of 3G licences to three mobile operators: Advanced Info Service (AIS), DTAC and TrueMove.

Dr Pravit Leesatapornwongsa, who failed to vote for the bid, said he has yet to see an auction report from the independent Power Auction Co to ensure that it was done without any collusion.

Telecom committee chairman Settapong Malisuwan complied to Dr Pravit’s demand by ordering Power Auction to reveal the details of the bids awarded to the three contestants. It was an internal disclosure exclusively for the committee members. After reviewing the details, Dr Pravit continued his decision to vote against endorsement.

Mr Settapong said the three bid winners will be informed of the telecom committee’s decision within seven days after which a public announcement will be made.

AIS offered Bt14.625 billion in the Tuesday’s auction while both DTAC and TrueMove proposed Bt13.5 billion each. The total auction value is Bt 41.625 billion. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-10-18

[MaxLee]

And I wouldn't be surprised that in the end there's gonna be another issue during the finalization phase, which will take another 6 month to be resolved, and when this issue is resolved, there's onna be another finalization issue, which needs to be approved, which will take another 6 months, in order to get approved, only to get re-approved again and again and again, .... but this is gonna take another 6 months to get approved, in order to be delayed to another 6 months, because something is not right in the finalization process number XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX....... ....... and how many finalization processes is it gonna take until people in Thailand can officially use 3G, while the rest of the world has 4-5G already...

... if Thailand applies for 4G, it's gonna take another 10 years to get the auction process approved, only to get reconciled again for additional 10 years to get the official-mallicious-corruption-fake approval, and that will take another 20 years to be finalized.....

[Crushdepth]

There was no chance of this auction being a sane process.

I'm just surprised they didn't try to auction 2.5G first

[fstarbkk]

We're lucky if the rest of the world hasn't moved to 6G, by the time 3G is properly implemented in Thailand.

What a drag!!!

[infernalman7]

I think for the good of the country now the success of this auction is more important than ever before.

But that being said, it is absolutely not true to say that Thailand doesn't have 3G. We are currently using 3G for a much faster connection speeds (outside of Bangkok where there is no mobile traffic congestion; in comparison to Aussie or UK 3G). This 2100MHz 3G will only improve the congestion if not decreases the overall price plans since there is no more revenue split with the lazy-bums at CAT or TOT.

It doesn't really matter if the rest of the world is now deploying 4G. A good 3G coverage is needed first since 4G LTE technology currently does not support making phone calls (it is strictly internet until the newly tested VoIP-based calls on LTE works). Installations of 3G hardware at cell sites for Thailand will be quick, as a lackluster, Thailand can enjoy the benefit of the latest 3G technology at the lowest possible price. The technology now is so generic.

4G will be costly and 90% of the population doesn't even have a device to support it even in countries like the UK, US, Australia, or even Germany. (Unless you live in Japan or South Korea that's a different story)

[easybullet3]

There was no chance of this auction being a sane process.

I'm just surprised they didn't try to auction 2.5G first

i dont understand what the auction is for. Thailand already has 3G. I use it every day. so how can people say that thailand doesnt have 3G ?

[arthurboy]

Note to Dr Pravit Leesatapornwongsa, NBTC.

Minimum bid prices announced in June, public hearing in July.

Now's October.

10 - 6 or 7 = 4 or 3 months to do something about this, and not a peep.

Collusion? By whom and for what reasons?

Get 3G up and running now, and let the people decide.

If the public don't want non-voice services, they don't have to subscribe or migrate to any 3G operator service. They can simply stay put with their current 2G service and wait until the concessions turn over to TOT (CAT?) in the next few years.

[webfact]

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Winning 3G bids approved

USANEE MONGKOLPORN,

PRANOM BOONLUMP

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- Unfazed by a series of legal challenges, the national broadcasting and telecom watchdog yesterday officially approved the winners of Tuesday's 2.1-gigahertz (GHz) spectrum auction and will hurry to grant licences to the three bid winners.

At the same time, the Finance Ministry sent a letter warning the watchdog that its spectrum auction did not comply with the ministry's e-auction rules and could be deemed as having helping private bidders grab the precious national resource at a low price at the state's expense.

Today, the three bid winners - Advanced Wireless Network of Advanced Info Service; DTAC Network of Total Access Communication; and True Corp's Real Future - are all expected to pick up letters to be issued by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) approving them as bid winners. They are also expected to quickly pay their up-front spectrum fees to the watchdog in order to obtain the licences and launch their 3G businesses as fast as possible. AIS has informed the NBTC that its subsidiary will pay 50 per cent of the fee today.

Finance Ministry deputy permanent secretary Supa Piyajitti said that under the ministry's rules, e-auctions must promote competition. As the Finance Ministry oversees the state procurement regulations, it must warn the watchdog on the matter, Supa said.

In an individual capacity, she also sent a letter to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) asking it to probe whether the auction breached the State Bidding Act 1999.

NBTC commissioner Prasert Silphiphat said the agency is ready to clarify all cases.

Commissioner Prawit Leesatapornwongsa said he remained concerned that collusion had occurred. If his suspicions are proven, he would file a petition with the NACC, he said.

Yesterday, four out of five members of the NBTC's telecom committee voted to approve the outcome of the spectrum auction. Those voting in favour of the bid result were telecom committee chairman Settapong Malisuwan, Suthiphon Thaveechaiyagarn, Prasert and Sukit Khamasundara, while Prawit voted against approving the result. The committee does not need the 11-member NBTC board to approve the result, as it is the duty of the telecom committee to grant the licences.

Prasert said that once the winners have obtained their letters from the NBTC, paid half of the spectrum fee and provided a financial guarantee that they can pay the outstanding amount, the watchdog will grant them the licence within seven days. The licence period of 15 years will commence on the date they pick up the licence.

Under the auction's terms, they can pay 50-per-cent of the up-front spectrum fee within 90 days after receiving the letter approving their successful bid, 25 per cent in the second year and the remainder in the third year.

Advanced Wireless Network paid a total of Bt14.625 billion for three slots, while DTAC Network and Real Future both paid Bt13.5 billion for the three slots they each acquired.

"The 3G service fee will be low as required by consumers. In the next step, the committee will hurry to consider three draft regulations, infrastructure sharing, network roaming and the mobile virtual network operator [MVNO] system, which all passed public hearings. These regulations will enable the winners to offer the 3G service better and cheaper," Prasert added.

Also yesterday, the Administrative Court rejected two petitions against the NBTC filed separately by two groups over the 3G auction. The court argued that the plaintiffs were not the damaged party. The cases were brought to court by the Consumer Rights Protection Association, activist Admiral Chai Suwannaphap and others, who claimed that the lack of competition in the bidding would put consumers at a disadvantage.

The NBTC has faced mounting public pressure to guarantee reasonably priced 3G service, given the three bidders snatched the prized spectrum slots cheaply amid low competition, according to critics.

The telecom committee's meeting to vote to approve the outcome of the 2.1GHz spectrum auction saw a fierce argument pitting Prawit against the four commissioners who approved the result. Prawit argued that the committee should have increased the reserve price amid the potentially low competition. But his colleagues said it was time for the NBTC to move on, instead of wasting time talking about the price. Settapong allowed an audio broadcast of the meeting to be carried in the pressroom, citing transparency.

At the meeting, the committee had its legal team clarify point by point whether the auction breached any law or regulation, especially the law against bid collusion, which many parties claimed had been violated.

The legal team said the law focuses on whether there are attempts by bidders to block others from taking part in the price proposals, while the NBTC auction gave chances to all potential bidders to take part. Therefore, the auction did not breach this law, the team said.

NBTC auction design adviser Pacharasut Sujarittanonta added that there was no sign of any collusion during the auction.

The NBTC made available nine spectrum slots in the auction, each containing 5 megahertz of bandwidth at a reserve price of Bt4.5 billion. Each bidder could grab a maximum of three slots.

Out of nine slots available, six were grabbed at price at Bt4.5 billion each, unchanged from the reserve price of Bt4.5 billion. Telecom scholars have claimed that mistakes in the auction's terms and conditions allowed the three bidders to grab the maximum three slots each, and had created a low reserve price, thereby failing to promote strong competition.

-- The Nation 2012-10-19

[Moruya]

What this government needs is ethical cleansing.

[MaxLee]

What this government needs is ethical cleansing.

It's not gonna happen because the real puppet master is somewhere around the world enjoying tax payer's money won by corruption.

[Psych01]

It's all OK having whatever *G connection each country has but, I wonder when Thailand will get the IPv6 connectivity issues sorted. Does not really matter how fast the connection is, if it is throttled by so many users whatever *G you have, it's still not going to be as fast as it could be.

[MaxLee]

It's all OK having whatever *G connection each country has but, I wonder when Thailand will get the IPv6 connectivity issues sorted. Does not really matter how fast the connection is, if it is throttled by so many users whatever *G you have, it's still not going to be as fast as it could be.

Did you know that Thailand's so called telecommunication broadband infrastructure never really existed ,.... what's next for the next 50 years? 3.0000000001G