NBTC confident 4G auction can take place before year ends

[webfact]

NBTC confident 4G auction can take place before year ends

BANGKOK, 12 August 2015 (NNT) – The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has expressed confidence the auctioning of spectrums for 4G services will take place before the end of the year.

According to the NBTC, input on the auction has been sought from representatives of telecom businesses and the civic sector, academics, and other stakeholders. Civic sector representatives have voiced concern over service quality and potentially higher fees.

Meanwhile, telecom businesses have urged the NBTC to revise the current 60 MHz limit on each operator's bandwidth as the limit could become a hindrance to business.

NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith on Tuesday expressed confidence that auctions for the 900 MHz band would commence by December 15. He explained that the input gathered from the various sectors will be presented to the NBTC's board no later than September and will be announced in the government gazette.

Meanwhile, proposals over the 1800 MHz band will be deliberated by the NBTC on August 26, and will be announced in the government gazette by the end of August if the proposals are approved by the board.


-- NNT 2015-08-12

[Srikcir]

With the current 60 MHz limit on each operator's bandwidth, the NBTC may not get the number of bids or bid amounts that it expects.

The limitation means successful bidders would be required to hand over part of their bandwidth if they end up exceeding the maximum after the auction. The excess would be transferred to the NBTC or the state telecom agencies, depending on which of them issued the bandwidth in question. This reallocation (with no apparent adjustment in bid price) may cause the successful bidder not to have enough bandwidth to provide quality service in expansion of their customer base. - The Nation 2015-08-05

DTAC suggested that before imposing a spectrum cap, the NBTC should map out how much bandwidth will be reallocated, and when. Studies on the structure of the telecom market and forecasts of bandwidth demand should also be conducted. All these should be key factors to specify the appropriate amount of bandwidth each of operators could hold. - ditto

Obviously, the industry is being ignored and NBTC is rushing the bidding. Seems too much pressure from the government to cash in the new bandwidth than listen to reason. So much for the Junta's digital economy policies.