3G auctions to be held in Hua Hin

[buksida]

Four companies have submitted bid documents for the 3G licence auction to be held in Hua Hin, although only three were accepted, the National Telecommunications Commission says.

The companies submitting bids before the process ended yesterday are Advanced Wireless Network, a subsidiary of Advanced Info Service (AIS), DTAC Internet Service, a subsidiary of DTAC, Real Move, a subsidiary of True Move, and Win Win Co Ltd.

Win Win was disqualified because it did not attach the requested 1.28 billion baht cheque and a letter of intent.

This left only three bidders qualified for the auction scheduled for next month. The NTC will thus only put up two licences for sale as specified by the auction conditions. The third licence will be sold in a separate auction 90 days later.

A total of 18 companies picked up bid documents from the NTC after they became available on Aug 1.

Twelve of the 18 companies are well-known in the telecom industry while the others are unfamiliar to experts.

They are Millcom, Sararnrut, Win Win NGV, Kao Luk Bamboo Orchid, Apichai Chachaval and Java Soft Vision.

The NTC will auction the three licences with a reserve bid price of 12.8 billion baht. Each licence runs for 15 years on the 15MHz bandwidth.

The commission has budgeted 50 million baht for the auction set for Sept 20 in Hua Hin district in Prachuap Khiri Khan. It is planned to broadcast the auction through satellite television stations run by the Mass Communications Organisation of Thailand.

Sources: Bangkok Post
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/1 ... g-bid-race
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/1 ... 3g-bidders

Anuparb Thiralarp, an independent telecom expert, said the absence of foreign participation in the 3G auction came as no surprise, given the confusion over many aspects of the bidding terms and lack of clarity about pricing and foreign shareholding regulations.

Thoughts: Another mighty fine way to drive away foreign investors and keep a tight government control over data communications and information flow into the future ... echoes of North Korea anyone?

[Spitfire]

Yeah, scares the living brown stuff out of them, I reckon. Can't also help thinking that by the time 3G is available everywhere it'll be almost obsolete technology anyhow.

They're still, and will be for a long time, paying for their previous short-sighted ineptitude of not investing in Internet infrastructure a decade plus or so back and realising it's a screw-up but could never admit to it. At 7 in the evening (counterstrike time) I get better connectivity on a wifi EDGE modem with a DTAC sim card than TT&T land line most nights.

Oh well.........

[buksida]

'Mickey' and 'Donald' pip 'Goofy' in test run for 3G licence auction where billions will be at stake.

Picture three groups pitted together in titanic struggle for pride, honour and bragging rights. At the end of a tense, stress-filled hour, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck emerge from their rooms with their hands high, while Goofy can only shake his head and consider what might have been.

The contest represented only a test of wills, computer systems and auction procedures. In 13 days, teams from Thailand's top three mobile phone providers will gather in a similar setting and play a similar game, but with tens of billions of baht on the line.

The National Telecommunications Commission is gearing up for what will be a major milestone in the history of the Thai telecom industry: the sale of two licences to build and operate a third-generation wireless network.

For the three bidders - Advanced Info Service, DTAC and True Move - a win means the opportunity to escape the shackles of their concession agreements with the state and a headstart in the race to meet rapidly growing demand for high-speed, wireless multimedia and data services.

During yesterday's mock auction, the NTC split the participants into three groups, each named after one of Walt Disney's legendary cartoon characters.

Mickey Mouse was given a budget of 20 billion baht, Donald Duck 18 billion and Goofy 17 billion, a reflection of the different budgets and financial positions of each of the three real bidders.

Full Story: Bangkok Post

Thought: Farcical.

[buksida]

The Administrative Court has accepted an application from the CAT Telecom management to postpone the 3G licence auction by the National Telecommunications Commission this Monday.

However it rejected the management's call for an emergency hearing.

Instead, the court said it would summon members of the NTC board over the next few days to answer the accusation by CAT executives that the NTC had no authority to hold a 3G auction and the auction would cause CAT and TOT Plc losses of more than 40 billion baht a year.

CAT president Jirayuth Roongsrithong, who represented CAT management in filing the case with the Administrative Court, said the NTC had no authority to hold the auction. That power rested with the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission.

"We are not intending to undermine the auction and the prime minister did not give any instruction to halt the move. We did it to defend our organisation," Mr Jirayuth said.

Source: Bangkok Post

Thought: There you go, government owned CAT and TOT will lose too much money if private companies are allowed to advance technology in Thailand, so lets go back to painting on cave walls shall we.

[PeteC]

Everything is on hold now. The court won't meet again until Monday. All the players are spending the weekend at the Evason in Pranburi and waiting to see if the court rules in time to have the auction on Monday. Pete

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/tel ... -pran-buri

[Nereus]

Court outlines reasons for freezing 3G auction

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/1 ... 3g-auction

The Supreme Administrative Court on Thursday upheld the Central Administrative Court's injunction freezing the auction of 3G licences by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

The court ruled that allowing the auction to proceed before the legal issues were settled could damage the country.

The NTC originally planned to hold the 3G auction on Monday this week, but the auction was put on hold when the Central Administrative Court issued a temporary injunction against it at the request of CAT Telecom.

The NTC appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court, which on Thursday upheld the injunction.

This means the 3G auction is on hold indefinitely.

The court outlined three reasons for calling off the auction.

First, the NTC called bids for 3G licences even though a joint committee drawing up a masterplan for allocation and administration of frequencies had not been set up as required by Article 51 of the National Telecommunications Communication Act of 2000.

If the auction were allowed to proceed, many other legal problems were likely to follow.

Second, the court's order calling off the auction would not cause much damage to the three bidders.

Third, although the order may delay development of 3G technology for about four years, it would not disrupt the administration and public services of the state.

CAT Telecom has argued that authority to distribute 3G licences rests with the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), which will supercede the NTC but has not been set up.

The House of Representatives will this afternoon again deliberate the Frequency Allocation Bill, which would enable the establishment of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission to replace the NTC. The bill was amended by the Senate after being passed in May.

If the House votes in favour of the amended bill, it will pave the way for the establishment of the NBTC, which will have authority to allocate frequencies, oversee radio and television broadcasting and supervise national telecommunications.

NBTC would replace the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), which is not authorised to allocate frequencies under the 2007 Constitution.

Stocks of telecommunications companies dropped following the ruling.

At the lunch break, Advanced Info Service Pcl (ADVANC TB), the country's biggest mobile phone company, had dropped 0.8 percent to 91 baht. True Corp (TRUE TB) slid 8.9 percent to 4.5 baht.

[Super Joe]

The court ruled that allowing the auction to proceed before the legal issues were settled could damage the country.

Smilies are over used by us all a lot of the time, but these two are brilliant and made me chuckle.

SJ