Marathon bidding for 4G licences exceeds Bt50 billion after 30 rounds

[webfact]

Marathon bidding for 4G licences exceeds Bt50 billion after 30 rounds
USANEE MONGKOLPORN
THE NATION



BANGKOK: -- THE latest bidding price for both 1800MHz telecom licences, as of press time, yesterday had surged to Bt50.530 billion and the latest bid for each licence was in excess of 100 per cent of the full spectrum value. In round 30, the bid for the first licence had reached Bt25.066 billion, 26 per cent higher than the full value of Bt19.890 billion, and the bid for the second licence was Bt25.464 billion, 28 per cent higher than the full value.

The marathon bidding, hosted by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) at its headquarters on Phaholyothin Soi 8, was going on at the time of going to the press after having begun at 10am. The NBTC telecom committee, at 7pm yesterday, abruptly called a special meeting to extend the closing time for the bidding from the scheduled 9pm until clear winners emerged. The bidders were allowed a break from 9-9.30pm.

NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith said yesterday that the bid should end at 9pm and continue today. The NBTC, however, was concerned that if the four bidders were allowed to go back home yesterday, it could raise doubts among the public of their possible collusion when they return for bidding today.

The minimum starting bid for each licence was Bt15.912 billion, which amounted to 80 per cent of the full spectrum value. The four participants were allowed 20 minutes per round to make their bids.

The four bidders were Advanced Wireless Network (AWN) of Advanced Info Service (AIS), DTAC TriNet of Total Access Communic-ation (DTAC), True Move H Universal Communication of True Corp, and Jas Mobile Broadband of Jasmine International. They aim to secure the licence to provide 4G service.

There were two licences available, each for a pair of bands on the 1800-megahertz spectrum. The first licence was for the 1710-1725MHz and 1805-1820MHz bands and the second for the 1725-1749MHz and 1820-1835MHz bands. Each of the licences featured 15MHz of bandwidth, valid for a period of 18 years.

The competition yesterday was initially concentrated on the second licence. The band in the second licence is adjacent to DTAC's 25MHz in the 1800MHz band, which will expire in 2018.

When the auctions started, one participant bid for the first licence, while the other three bid for the second one. The total bid for the two licences after the first round was Bt33.416 billion.

In the second round, the bidder for the first licence stood by the price of Bt16.708 billion as no one was in competition. For the second licence, two bidders raised the price to Bt17.504 billion, while the other bidder did not raise the price. The total price of both licences at that stage stood at Bt34.212 billion. The AIS share price yesterday dropped 1.31 per cent to close at Bt226, while the share price of DTAC fell 2.79 per cent to close at Bt61, True fell 1.96 per cent to Bt10 and Jas fell 5.98 per cent to Bt5.50. The NBTC auction of three licences on the 2.1-gigahertz spectrum in late 2012 had realised Bt41.625 billion in upfront fees. On that occasion, AWN bid Bt14.625 billion for a 15-year licence, while True's Real Future and DTAC's DTAC Network each bid Bt13.5 billion.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Marathon-bidding-for-4G-licences-exceeds-Bt50-bill-30272758.html

-- The Nation 2015-11-12

[casualbiker]

Gotta say.. Idiots.. Now the bidders that don't win can contest it because the NBTC have broken the conditions of the auction. The whole point of a set end time is the winners with the highest bid at that time win!

[webfact]

4G auctions draw over Bt74 bn
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Thai telecom companies have fought fiercely for the new 4G licences, bringing the two licences' value to Bt74.4 billion before noon.

All are in a three-hour recess on the request from the telecom companies, as the auction marathon continued for 25 hours.

The auction will resume at 2pm.

All three listed telecom companies witnessed a drop in share prices. Total Access Communications and True Corp lost 6 per cent in the morning session, while Advanced Info Service lost 5 per cent.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/4G-auctions-draw-over-Bt74-bn-30272765.html

-- The Nation 2015-11-12

[doremifasol]

........ first licence had reached Bt25.066 billion

........ second licence was Bt25.464 billion

Twentyfivethousandsixtysix billion Baht?

Twentyfivethousandfourhundredsixtyfour billion Baht?

Geez...... they are very rich.

[Myran]

........ first licence had reached Bt25.066 billion

........ second licence was Bt25.464 billion

Twentyfivethousandsixtysix billion Baht?

Twentyfivethousandfourhundredsixtyfour billion Baht?

Geez...... they are very rich.

Those are full stops, not commas. So no, there's no way you could get those numbers.

[maewang99]

Bangkok Post comments on this complain it will cost customers with higher bills....

maybe they are telecom shareholders???? not "customers"??

example, one bidder has a balance sheet with almost nothing on it as it's cell towers and everything else it had owned one time are now off balance sheet... and that particular listed counter is doing very well in spite of having 24.6 billion shares outstanding.

there's what? only 7 billion people.... on Earth?

no surprise bids are on the high side.

Edited November 12, 2015 by maewang99

[Jai Dee]

Thai auction: 1.8GHz bids top $2B, double reserve price

Thailand’s planned 1.8GHz auction went ahead on time yesterday, with the four bidders – AIS, dtac, True and Jasmine — pushing the price of the two 15MHz blocks to THB77.99 billion ($2.17 billion) in a marathon bidding session that has gone on for more than 24 hours.

At 16:30 local time today the bids for the two licences had reached THB39.39 billion and THB38.6 billion – more than double the reserve price of THB15.91 billion. After 81 rounds, the auction is still going strong and was scheduled to halt at 17:30 and continue in the morning.

This morning at about 11:00, after 75 bidding rounds, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) called for a three-hour break. Last night bidders were given just a 30-minute dinner break.

AIS, the country’s leading mobile player with a 46 per cent market share, was expected to spend heavily in the auction because it’s the only operator in the country without 4G service.

The 900MHz auction (two blocks of 10MHz) is scheduled on December 15. The 4G auctions, which have been delayed by more then a year since the military coup in May 2014, were expected to raise more than $2 billion for the government.

The winners need to pay half the bidding fees within 90 days of the auction date.

Meanwhile, NBTC has ceded to pressure from state-owned CAT Telecom and granted it a licence for 20MHz in the 1.8GHz band. But the licence is only for three years, which is when its concession with dtac ends. The 2018 expiry effectively means CAT won’t be able to actually launch 4G services.

CAT made the demand for the spectrum after its state-owned rival TOT was given the rights to 64MHz of 2.3MHz until 2027.

The move by the regulator didn’t stop CAT’s labour union from filing an injunction to try to stop the 1.8GHz auction yesterday. The motion went ahead despite the country’s prime minister Prayuth Chanocha saying last week that any legal action against the auctions will be considered illegal.

CAT sued the NBTC in 2013 over ownership of the 1.8GHz band and has asked the courts for an injunction until the case has been heard.

Source: mobileworldlive.com

[Orac]

True and AIS won - 80,778m total

[skippybangkok]

Anyone know what DTAC will do ? The don't have enough for 3&4G

[casualbiker]

Anyone know what DTAC will do ? The don't have enough for 3&4G

I imagine they will have done a deal with CAT to use the 1800 that they have just been allocated FREE. It was DTAC's anyway!

And then go for the 900 later in the month!

[skippybangkok]

Ah.... I see they've announced that they are the first to roll out 4G on 1800 MHz

Let's see what they have in store but their stock dropped almost 8% today where True & AIS stabilized.