Nbtc ' Sternly Warned ' On Collusion In 3G Bidding

[webfact]

NBTC 'sternly warned' on collusion in 3G bidding

BANGKOK, Oct 19 – Thailand’s Finance Ministry today warned the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) of breaching the Price Collusion Act in its auction of third-generation (3G) mobile licences.

Supa Piyajitti, deputy permanent secretary for finance, submitted a letter to the NBTC indicating that the Tuesday’s auction was not in accord with e-auction procedures—a method which requires more suppliers than the goods put up for bid.

“In this case, the 3G spectrum was divided into nine slots. The nine slots were split into three sets and three suppliers joined the bidding. A question has arisen on whether there was competition at all since the number of products and bidders were equal,” said Ms Supa in her capacity as chairman of the Electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) committee.

She pointed out that there was no competition in the 3G auction, and that the bid winners will profit from the frequencies, which are state resources, for 15 consecutive years. She said that Tuesday’s auction could be in violation of the Price Collusion Act of 1999 as it resulted in the country’s extensive loss of potential revenue.

The NBTC must be accountable for its action, she said.

Comparing it to a car auction, Ms Supa said a bidder who loses in bid can acquire another car elsewhere but the state’s 45 MHZ frequencies are valuable and non-replaceable.

Thailand’s three biggest mobile companies which won the 3G auction on Tuesday were Advanced Info Service, DTAC and True Corp.

Ms Supa said the three telecom operators want licences for uninterrupted service and the value of the auctioned frequencies is overwhelming. She likened the bid results to a clearance sale of the country’s resources.

She said she made the warning in her capacity as deputy permanent secretary for finance and e-GP chairman after observing that there was no genuine competition and the bid prices secured by two operators were not higher than the floor prices originally set by the NBTC.

The Finance Ministry concurrently submitted its reservations on the 3G auction to the National Anti-Corruption Commission, insisting that the NBTC could be in violation of Section 111 of the Price Collusion Act if it proceeds with the 3G assignments.

Ms Supa would not comment on whether the NBTC must follow the Finance Ministry’s instruction. She stressed that the ministry will not interfere in the NBTC’s operations if the agency’s action does not incur such a great loss to the country.

She indicated that the NBTC could have initially called off the auction after finding that the bid price was not higher than its base price of Bt 4.5 billion. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-10-19

[bigbamboo]

'Sternly warned'.................... hahahahahaha!

It's not as if Thailand hasn't already had experience of dodgy auctions where the reserve price was set far too low and the bids were rigged.

[asiawatcher]

What a charade...

[Thai at Heart]

Didn't anyone in any position of responsibility look up at how to set up a phone auction?

[MaxLee]

NBTC has nothing to say, just a "paper Tiger"...

[thaicbr]

The government made money .. lots of money. 3G is a benefit to Thailand ..They should stop sqabberling and get on with issuing the licenses.... jeeze

Sent from my GT-P1010 using Thaivisa Connect App

[Payboy]

The auction is over. Someone should send yesterdays newspaper to the Finance Ministry.

[MaxLee]

The auction is over. Someone should send yesterdays newspaper to the Finance Ministry.

Nothing is really over in Thailand, because there are always things going on behind closed doors, under the table, if you know what I mean. The greedy telecommunicators have made money for low investment, and all the customers get is below-the-standard services in a poor telecommunication broadband infrastructure, which hasn't been improved for many years now.

Edited October 19, 2012 by MaxLee

[RickBradford]

Declare the auction invalid and start again from scratch. Have everybody file lawsuits against each other, and try to impeach the government for some misdemeanour or other while you're at it. When the lawsuits are settled (in 2016 or so), hold another auction.

That's the true Thai way!

[Pib]

It just continues....like cats and dogs fighting....even parts of the current government fight each other like they were from opposing political parties. Just not a good way to run a government for the people...but whoever said the government had the people's best interest in mind.

[MaxLee]

Declare the auction invalid and start again from scratch. Have everybody file lawsuits against each other, and try to impeach the government for some misdemeanour or other while you're at it. When the lawsuits are settled (in 2016 or so), hold another auction.

That's the true Thai way!

That's EXACTLY what I fear is gonna happen .... Oh never mind we will just wait another 10 ten years.....

Edited October 19, 2012 by MaxLee

[1bbcd5]

He's the one on the right.

[whybother]

There's no competition because the government does their best to keep competition out.

[Rionoir]

Boy we'll have to call Nancy Drew in on this one... I just can't figure out this mystery at all! ...oh brother........

[webfact]

Thai finance ministry urges 3G auction probe

BANGKOK, Oct 19, 2012 (AFP) - Thailand's finance ministry on Friday called for a corruption investigation into the country's auction of third-generation (3G) mobile telephone operating licences because of fears of collusion.

All three companies that participated in Tuesday's sale secured three blocks of bandwidth each, according to the National Broadcasting Telecommunication Commission (NBTC), the telecom regulator.

"There was no real price competition," finance ministry deputy permanent secretary Supa Piyajitti wrote in a letter to the NBTC and the National Anti-Corruption Commission urging a probe.

"The spectrum is a limited resource so if there is inappropriate allocation or collusion it may result in a severe loss for the state and NBTC members may be held responsible under the law," Supa said, according to the memo released by her office.

She said there should have been fewer licences than bidders and a higher reserve price.

Leading telecom firms Advanced Info Service, Total Access Communication (Dtac) and True Move all secured licences in the sale, which critics tried to block because of fears of a lack of competition in the bidding.

Two firms bid the minimum reserve price and one offered only eight percent more in an auction that raised a total of 41.6 billion baht ($1.4 billion).

A business dispute meant that as other nations move to introduce faster 4G technology, Thailand has yet to roll out a proper 3G service, more than a decade after it was first launched in Japan.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2012-10-19

[arthurboy]

This is getting boring but, what the hell, here goes.

Auction annnounced in June, public hearing held in July. That's, respectively, 4 and 3 months ago.

Not a peep on any of these issues during that time.

Do I detect - with this latest protest - a looming collusion on a grand scale from this collective of incompetent, Coco the Clowns - seemingly masquerading as people and organisations representing the interests of Thailand and its people - to prevent Thailand actually getting 3G ?

(Apologies to the original Coco the Clown)

[MaxLee]

This is getting boring but, what the hell, here goes.

Auction annnounced in June, public hearing held in July. That's, respectively, 4 and 3 months ago.

Not a peep on any of these issues during that time.

Do I detect - with this latest protest - a looming collusion on a grand scale from this collective of incompetent, Coco the Clowns - seemingly masquerading as people and organisations representing the interests of Thailand and its people - to prevent Thailand actually getting 3G ?

(Apologies to the original Coco the Clown)

That's what's happening,.... if the finalization process gets revoked again under any "for the public to hard-to-understand-special circumstances".... we wait for another 10 years

[virtualtraveller]

Business in this country is one big collusion, what were they expecting, you've got 9 licences up for grabs and there aren't even 9 telcos in the country, such a farce,

[koolbreez]

The limit on how many blocks of bandwidth one company could own was reduced down from 20 to 15 a few weeks ago, so their was collusion to eliminate competition, and from the agency selling the service to the private firms. The government eliminated any reason for real competitive bidding before the auction took place, and even before the actual number of qualified bidders was announced last week, as if they knew beforehand who would actually qualify.

[thaicbr]

The limit on how many blocks of bandwidth one company could own was reduced down from 20 to 15 a few weeks ago, so their was collusion to eliminate competition, and from the agency selling the service to the private firms. The government eliminated any reason for real competitive bidding before the auction took place, and even before the actual number of qualified bidders was announced last week, as if they knew beforehand who would actually qualify.

But they still got their money and hopefully Thailand will get a nationwide 3g.. so no problem. Lets face it there were NO foreign companies coming to Thailand to set up a 3g service that was just smoke and mirrors. Also there are no other Thai companies with the resources to start one from scratch. So they should stop bickering and get on with it... bunch of sound bite <deleted> the lot of them.

Sent from my GT-P1010 using Thaivisa Connect App

Edited October 19, 2012 by thaicbr

[MaxLee]

That opens up the next problem: infrastructure, the telecommunication broadband service has been sadly disappointing, and no penny has been invested to improve the infrastructure necessary, in order to operate such high technology broadband to distribute Internet traffic.

I can imagine the broadband pipelines full and more and more disconnections on and off and on and off and Internet and 3G service is gonna be a frustrating disaster EXACTLY because of the reason, I've mentioned above: UNDERDEVELOPED BROADBAND SERVICE INFRASTRUCTURE … not a single penny was spent on infrastructure.

But that takes of course another 50 years in order to be negotiated in another SCAM auction

Edited October 19, 2012 by MaxLee

[GentlemanJim]

From the OP

She pointed out that there was no competition in the 3G auction, and that the bid winners will profit from the frequencies, which are state resources, for 15 consecutive years. She said that Tuesday’s auction could be in violation of the Price Collusion Act of 1999 as it resulted in the country’s extensive loss of potential revenue.

Pity the Government seem totally unbothered about the much much larger losses to the country from the Rice Pledging scheme. Still declaring it all null and void means more whacking back handers for politicians at the next round of auctions.

[jbrain]

A question has arisen on whether there was competition at all since the number of products and bidders were equal,” said Ms Supa in her capacity as chairman of the Electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) committee.

I guess someone in the government must have read my post in another thread.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/591929-thailand-3g-auction-bidders-are-just-hungry-for-food/#entry5763013

I think I should shut up more .

[Time Traveller]

This is like Thaksin's revenge on Thailand for kicking him out in 2006....the country will be condemned to 2G forever.

Well, apparently it seems Thaksin is the only competent public official with telecommunications and auction knowledge that Thailand has ever had. Everyone else are clowns.

It was bizzare that the auction was for 3 bidders, had 3 parcels of broadband slots each available, and 2 of these 3 winning bidders won by bidding the minimum amount. Fairly obvious to everyone (except the government) that these companies weren't going to pay more than the minimum if they were assured one of the parcels.

They should have just given the the 3g licenses to each of company (and there really is no one else qualified to offer 3g services) for free then have each company auction on a revenue sharing with the government. With higher bid price and less money the 3G company will have to pay the government on their revenue.

Anyway, the government has not lost anything, they were auctioning thin air ! And the thai consumer can now how 3G services everywhere soon. Somehow it is never enough, these greedy politicians just want more and more and more.

[jayjayjayjay]

And Thailand are proud of never been colonized! I would say they need to look over the fence to see where some commonwealth colonized countries benefited from better processes in government.

[Time Traveller]

From the OP

She pointed out that there was no competition in the 3G auction, and that the bid winners will profit from the frequencies, which are state resources, for 15 consecutive years. She said that Tuesday’s auction could be in violation of the Price Collusion Act of 1999 as it resulted in the country’s extensive loss of potential revenue.

Pity the Government seem totally unbothered about the much much larger losses to the country from the Rice Pledging scheme. Still declaring it all null and void means more whacking back handers for politicians at the next round of auctions.

How is this a loss of revenue? Do those fools not plan on DTAC, AIS and True paying corporate taxes anymore? It seems the get-something-for-nothing mindset is too ingrained in Thai government culture for this country to improve.

The Thai government are happy to pay higher than market prices for perishable foods like rice and 3rd rate tablet computers.

But selling broadcast frequencies which have a zero tangible value (and cost the country nothing to acquire) too cheaply is absolutely outrageous! Why, the rest of the world might think the Thais are no longer world champions at scamming. Maybe the Thai government can start auctioning licenses that give permission for it's citizens to breathe it's air!

Edited October 19, 2012 by Time Traveller

[kimamey]

From the OP

She pointed out that there was no competition in the 3G auction, and that the bid winners will profit from the frequencies, which are state resources, for 15 consecutive years. She said that Tuesday’s auction could be in violation of the Price Collusion Act of 1999 as it resulted in the country’s extensive loss of potential revenue.

Pity the Government seem totally unbothered about the much much larger losses to the country from the Rice Pledging scheme. Still declaring it all null and void means more whacking back handers for politicians at the next round of auctions.

How is this a loss of revenue? Do those fools not plan on DTAC, AIS and True paying corporate taxes anymore? It seems the get-something-for-nothing mindset is too ingrained in Thai government culture for this country to improve.

The Thai government are happy to pay higher than market prices for perishable foods like rice and 3rd rate tablet computers.

But selling broadcast frequencies which have a zero tangible value (and cost the country nothing to acquire) too cheaply is absolutely outrageous! Why, the rest of the world might think the Thais are no longer world champions at scamming. Maybe the Thai government can start auctioning licenses that give permission for it's citizens to breathe it's air!

That's fine but I bet farangs will have to pay more to breath.

[whybother]

This is like Thaksin's revenge on Thailand for kicking him out in 2006....the country will be condemned to 2G forever.

Well, apparently it seems Thaksin is the only competent public official with telecommunications and auction knowledge that Thailand has ever had. Everyone else are clowns.

It was bizzare that the auction was for 3 bidders, had 3 parcels of broadband slots each available, and 2 of these 3 winning bidders won by bidding the minimum amount. Fairly obvious to everyone (except the government) that these companies weren't going to pay more than the minimum if they were assured one of the parcels.

They should have just given the the 3g licenses to each of company (and there really is no one else qualified to offer 3g services) for free then have each company auction on a revenue sharing with the government. With higher bid price and less money the 3G company will have to pay the government on their revenue.

Anyway, the government has not lost anything, they were auctioning thin air ! And the thai consumer can now how 3G services everywhere soon. Somehow it is never enough, these greedy politicians just want more and more and more.

"Thaksin is the only competent public official with telecommunications and auction knowledge that Thailand has ever had."

Thaksin never dealt with auctions. He made his money by being given a monopoly licence.

[lomatopo]

The limit on how many blocks of bandwidth one company could own was reduced down from 20 to 15 a few weeks ago, so their was collusion to eliminate competition, .

Actually that was done to protect True.

Having all three providers or more or less equal footing is probably best in the long run for consumers, primarily Thai citizens.

[MaxLee]

The main problem of Thailand's broadband telecommunication service is: INFRASTRUCTURE

Nothing has ever been invested for so many years.

So even with 3G, Thailand is still running its telecommunication services on an underdeveloped telecommunication broadband lines which are so jammed-packed during peak hours, which means slower Internet speeds and random disconnections from the Internet, due to the lack of more improved optic fibre cables.

In other words what I'm simply saying is, you can't just run an advanced technology like 3G or highspeed internet, on a weak infrastructure.

It's like PUTTING A HEAVY HIGH SPEED BULLET TRAIN ON AN OUTAGE RAILROAD TRACK THAT CAN BREAK DOWN CRACK at any second <- that is EXACTLY what the Thai telecommunication providers are doing with its poor telecommunication customers for all those years…: "running an advanced broadband technology with an outaged and never improving telecommunication INFRASTRUCTURE."

As long as the infrastructure doesn't REALLY exist, broadband service, no matter 3G, 4G or 10-times-fold G doesn't matter if the telecommunication broadband infrastructure ALWAYS remain THE SAME…

Oh we'll, I shouldn't mention that or otherwise, it's going to take ANOTHER 50-100 years until Thailand gets another finalization scam screwed up