3G Auction: Only Order From Thai Court Or Telecom Panel Can Revoke Result, Says Nbtc

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3G AUCTION

Only order from court or telecom panel can revoke result, says NBTC

USANEE MONGKOLPORN

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Com-mission insists that only a court order or an instruction from its telecom committee could revoke the outcome of last month's auction of 2.1-gigahertz spectrum licences, NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasit said yesterday.

The Ombudsman is expected to petition the Central Administrative Court tomorrow to seek an injunction against the October 16 auction results, after a recent petition to its office by a group of senators alleging that the auction terms and conditions were unlawful.

The telecom sector, which plans to use the spectrum to provide third-generation cellular service, is waiting anxiously to see whether the NBTC will be able to press ahead and grant the licences, or whether the auction outcome will be revoked after the current legal challenges.

The three bid winners - Advanced Wireless Network, DTAC Network and Real Future - yesterday each submitted to the Ombudsman information on their October 16 bidding to show they had acted transparently. Last week, they jointly defended themselves against the accusation of bidding collusion.

The telecom committee yesterday wrote to the NBTC chairman, Thares Punsri, insisting that the panel had full authority to endorse the auction results. It will ask the watchdog's board to acknowledge the bidding outcome and related details on November 14.

The 11 members of the NBTC board have mixed views on whether the bid outcomes require endorsement from the whole board or just the telecom committee. The latter endorsed the auction results on October 18.

The outcome of the auction has drawn criticism from many parties, who claim the three bid winners were allowed to grab the prized spectrum slots on an uncompetitive basis. Critics have petitioned the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the Ombudsman to investigate alleged irregularities.

Takorn said the petition to the NACC on whether the auction breached the anti-bid-rigging law was focused on whether the telecom committee members had correctly performed their duty, and was nothing to do with the licensing.

The telecom panel is ready to clarify that it conducted the auction in accordance with the law and regulations, he said.

As to the case filed with the Ombudsman, the petition is aimed at the committee's authority and the auction terms. The Ombudsman can forward the case to the court if it is felt it merits such action.

The telecom committee set up its own panel to examine whether there had been any collusion among the bidders. The probe is scheduled to be completed by November 10, but the deadline can be extended for a maximum of 15 days. Then investigation panel will submit the final results for the telecom committee's consideration. If any irregularity is found, the telecom committee can consider revoking the outcome. However, such a move would put it at risk of being sued by the bid winners.

Under the auction terms, the committee must issue licences to the bid winners within 90 days of endorsing the auction outcome, which it did on October 18.

FINANCE MINISTRY CONSULTED

Meanwhile, the watchdog yesterday consulted with the Finance Ministry on whether it could pass half of the total final up-front spectrum fee to the state coffers, or keep the sum until the legal challenges filed at the NACC and the Ombuds-man reach finality.

If the bid outcomes have to be revoked, the NBTC has to pass the amount back to the bid winners.

The three bidders have paid a combined Bt22.269 billion to the NBTC, representing half of the total up-front spectrum fee.

The commission has to pass the amount to the state coffers in accordance with Article 45 of the 2010 Frequency Allocation Law.

It has deposited the amount at Siam Commercial Bank and Krung Thai Bank, where it yields interest of Bt4.9 million per day.

-- The Nation 2012-11-06

[MaxLee]

So now all of a sudden the NBTC is taking the hasty exit, aka saving face and hands it over to the government to distribute the licenses...

Oh, ooouh,... that will take another year, in order to get things into a so called negotiation finalization processes which will end up not finalized at all, and can take several more eyars until it's inofficially finalized, but something went wrong again, and it will take several more investigations that will, take another decade to be resolved....

A court in Thailand???? hell no, they won't do anything, but getting bribed by under the table money

[asiawatcher]

Can anyone believe these morons? The technology is already in the Dark Ages and they are still bitching. The only thing missing is the stone wheels as they have already fallen off.

[lomatopo]

Meanwhile, the watchdog yesterday consulted with the Finance Ministry on whether it could pass half of the total final up-front spectrum fee to the state coffers, or keep the sum until the legal challenges filed at the NACC and the Ombuds-man reach finality.

Or skim the 15%?

At least there's a drop-dead date which I hope they stick to: ~ 18 Jan. 2013.

[Guest]

This is an unfortunate farce which does not good this country. It probably benefits few over others as usual.

[jerrysteve]

What a JOKE! Nbtc is copping out...What a bunch f dead beat donuts, week kneed maggot breath morphadites.

Does Thailand even register as a blip on this planet.

While there Asian neighbors continue to move Forward, Thailand continues to move backwards.

[jbrain]

What a JOKE! Nbtc is copping out...What a bunch f dead beat donuts, week kneed maggot breath morphadites.

Does Thailand even register as a blip on this planet.

While there Asian neighbors continue to move Forward, Thailand continues to move backwards.

Why are you so negative, after all Thailand will be the HUB of internet in Asia

Thailand looks set to become a key international internet gateway (IIG) hub connecting countries across the region, which is needed in advance of the upcoming Asean Economic Community (AEC) in 2015, say industry leaders.

http://pattayatoday.net/news/thailand-could-become-internet-gateway-for-region/

[theajarn]

"after a recent petition to its office by a group of senators alleging that the auction terms and conditions were unlawful."

The usual Thai maggots that want their fair share of corruption.

[theajarn]

"Critics have petitioned the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the Ombudsman to investigate alleged irregularities.

Maybe the 'critics' (who are so conveniently unnamed) should be investigated.

[theajarn]

Funny how this works ... the telco companies put a couple billion in the bank... the government or some agency takes it and tells them "sorry no refund" and then just turns their back on them.

If I were the telco companies... there might just be a cheaper alternative.

[Udox]

On the 30th October 2012 the EE Company (Orange & T-Mobile) in the UK, launched the first 4G network with other companies launching the service in early 2013. Offering mobile speeds of 8 to 15 Mbps and have set up a facilty at Surrey University to begin research into 5G technology.

Meanwhile in Thailand they continue to argue over who will be bidding for the rights to operate 3G....

Yawn ..........................

[MaxLee]

On the 30th October 2012 the EE Company (Orange & T-Mobile) in the UK, launched the first 4G network with other companies launching the service in early 2013. Offering mobile speeds of 8 to 15 Mbps and have set up a facilty at Surrey University to begin research into 5G technology.

Meanwhile in Thailand they continue to argue over who will be bidding for the rights to operate 3G....

Yawn ..........................

And guess what,.... there are gonna be many, many finalization processes in which the government and telecom dogs still can't make up their minds, and it's gonna take another 50 years, in order to work on the next finalization procedures, ,.... only to be reviewed by the new watchdog "whoever", who still can't make up their minds about finalization procedures, which will take another 10000000000000000 years to be finalized, but still things are not really finalized, and in the mean time other nations have moved to another planet with PLUS 10000000 G , and Thailand is actually reverting back to MINUS 9999999999.... GGGGGG which is hell slow, because they have recognized that their telecom broadband infrastructure is too outdated to run 3G and higher

The first hand problem is, that NOTHING has been invested in a better telecom broadband infrastructure, which is absolutely necessary for advanced broadband technology to function well

In short, you cannot just acquire super modern broadband hightech, and run on an outdated telecom broadband infrastructure. Can you imagine, how overcharged the outdated broadband pipeline network would be, and how many disconnections from WIFI, 2G, 3G it can cause, if everybody uses wifi and 3G for 24/7???

The thing with Thailand desperately trying to acquire super modern hightech and not investing in the necessary infrastructure can be compared like this:

You put a superheavy elephant on a wooden amazon bridge. What will happen??? Do you get it? Or...

You put a superhighspeed heavy bullet train on old, fragile railroad tracks, what will happen???

And now you acquire 3G or whatever they call it in Thailand and try to install it on an outdated telecom broadband infrastructure, and you have so many mobilephone and internet users using it 24/7, with the telecom broadband and mobilephone infrastructure STILL not upgraded,... what will happen????????

Oh never mind, the peeps in the government and telecommunication body of Thailand, I mean whoever is responsible for running this under the table crap, they're gonna need another 100000+ years in order to set things right, ....

Edited November 7, 2012 by MaxLee

[bigbamboo]

The 3G fiasco has made Thailand the hub of national loss of face.