Four telecom groups enter auction for Thailand 4G spectrum of 1800 MHz

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Four telecom groups enter auction for Thailand 4G spectrum of 1800 MHz

BANGKOK:-- Four telecom groups submitted their sealed bids for the licenses to operate 4G spectrum of 1800 MHz bandwidth at the office of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission on Wednesday.

The four bidders are Jazz Mobile Broadband Company from the Jasmin group, DTAC Trinet from the DTAC group, Advance Wireless Network from the AIS group and TrueMove H Universal Communications.

NBTC vice chairman Col Setthapong Maleesuwan said that, for the next step, a panel would check on the qualifications of all the bidders and would announce within 15 days a list of those which have passed the qualifications screening.

A mock auction is scheduled on November 5-6 and the real auction will be held on November 11. The result of the auction will be known seven days after the auction.

There are altogether 30 slots of 1800 MHz bandwidth, two licenses each lasting 18 years.

There are two starting bidding prices. In case there are more than 3 bidders, the lowest bidding price is set at 15,912 million baht accounting for 80 percent of the value of spectrum. The bidding price is adjusted 796 million baht for each step until 19,890 million baht which is 100 percent of the value of the spectrum after which each bidding price will drop to 398 million baht for each bid. The government is expected to earn 33,416 million baht from the auction.

In case there are two bidders, the minimum bidding price is 19,890 million baht and adjusted by 398 million baht for each bid. In this case, the government is expected to earn 40,576 million baht from the auction.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/four-telecom-groups-enter-auction-for-4g-spectrum-of-1800-mhz

-- Thai PBS 2015-09-30

[gerry123]

not an auction then really

[casualbiker]

For sure they make it extremely cumbersome!

[MaxLee]

Four telecom groups enter auction for Thailand 4G spectrum of 1800 MHz

Waste of taxpayers money, IF the Single gateway is under way

[webfact]

NBTC could bring in Bt40 bn from 1800MHz auction
USANEE MONGKOLPORN
THE NATION



BANGKOK: -- THE NATIONAL Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission expects to realise up to Bt40 billion from the auction of two licences for the provision of 4G services under the 1800MHz spectrum, NBTC member Prasert Silpiphat said yesterday.

Four groups of telecom operators yesterday submitted the required documents - with a bank guarantee of Bt796 million per bidder and a submission fee of Bt535,000 each - for them to bid for the licences.

They are Jas Mobile Broadband, a subsidiary of Jasmine International; DTAC TriNet, a unit of Total Access Communication (DTAC); Advanced Info Service's Advanced Wireless Network (AWN); and True Corp's True Move H Universal Communication.

Jas Mobile, a newcomer to the mobile-phone business, will be partaking in a licence auction for the first time, while the other three are incumbent operators.

Some of the companies picked what they considered to be an auspicious time to submit the bid documents.

The AWN representatives, who were dressed in blue suits, did so at 10.31am precisely, while True Move H Universal Communication made sure it was the last to submit its paperwork, after 4pm. The NBTC will announce the names of the qualified bidders after October 15. If all four qualify, the starting price for the bidding will be Bt15.912 billion per licence.

The agency expects to bring in at least Bt33.416 billion from the auction, assuming all four companies take part.

If only two companies qualify, the starting price will be Bt19.89 billion per licence and the regulator expects to realise Bt40.576 billion from the auction.

The NBTC will hold the auction on November 11, announce the bid winners by November 18 and award the licences the following month.

In a related matter, the telecom committee of the NBTC yesterday approved DTAC's plan to complete the rearrangement of the 1800MHz spectrum by the end of November.

The Information and Communications Technology Ministry recently agreed to transfer 5MHz of 1800MHz bandwidth from both CAT Telecom and DTAC to the NBTC.

Meanwhile, CAT Telecom is still considering whether to take further legal action against the NBTC for holding the upcoming 1800MHz licence auction.

Last year, CAT filed a lawsuit at the Central Administrative Court against the auction plan, claiming that it held the rights to the 1800MHz spectrum licences until 2018.

CAT granted 1800MHz concessions to TrueMove and Digital Phone Co. The concessions expired in September 2013.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/NBTC-could-bring-in-Bt40-bn-from-1800MHz-auction-30269921.html


-- The Nation 2015-10-01

[bangon04]

"Some of the companies picked what they considered to be an auspicious time to submit the bid documents.

The AWN representatives, who were dressed in blue suits, did so at 10.31am precisely"

Yes that sounds just about right for a high tech company at the cutting edge of Thai progress and development.

So does this grand hocus pocus mean that Thais will actually get real 4G sometime before 2020?

[sammygood]

milk them good and afterwards, the prices can increase

[Jonmarleesco]

I wonder whether the mock auction will reflect the connivance that will no doubt be the hallmark of the real thing? And before 4G is even ready to go, 5G will be queueing up.

[IsaanUSA]

So DTAC and True would use two bands each? They already operate LTE on band 1, 2100 MHz