In a beauty contest, applicants would parade their service proposals and the one considered most commercially viable would win. The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) called a meeting so all parties could jointly set licensing guidelines for 3G services.

During the meeting they discussed licensing methods, social and economic impacts of 3G technology, and the suitable bandwidth for 3G spectrums to be allocated to each licence winner.

Most telecom operators said that from a technical standpoint, a "2x15MHz" paired spectrum would be suitable for each licensee.

Since a total of 2x45MHz bandwidth is available for 3G within the frequency band covering 1900MHz-2100MHz, three licences could be issued.

The NTC's committee in charge of studying the 3G licensing guidelines came up with many choices of 3G bandwidth, including the pairs of 2x10MHz, 2x15MHz and 2x20MHz. The 2x10 MHz paired spectrum would allow four 3G licences, the 2x15MHz three licences and 2x20 MHz only two licences.

With 3G technology - which transmits bandwidth-hungry-applications and services to 3G phones at blazing speeds - operators hope to offer fancy services such as live video broadcasting that can bring in more money.

The NTC working committee suggested that operators could upgrade their existing spectrums to provide the 3G services. It also suggested many choices for licensing - "first come, first serve", drawing lots, auctions, beauty contests and a combination of beauty contests and auctions.

A representative of state-run Thai Mobile supported the combined method, while CAT Telecom Plc and True Move favour the beauty contest.

A representative of True Move said that besides focusing on 3G, the NTC should also give top priority to promoting fair competition and regulations among all operators.

Both TOT Plc and CAT said they support the suggestion of the NTC working panel that 3G operators should allow other firms to buy airtime to resell to their own customers.

Sigve Brekke, chief executive of Total Access Communication (DTAC), said his company was very interested in 3G but would like to see a level-playing field in place before the licences were issued.

"Regarding the licensing method, we'll leave it to the NTC's judgement," he said.

A representative of the largest cellular operator, Advanced Info Service Plc (AIS), said the NTC should award the much-longed-for licences as soon as possible without having to wait for the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to be created.

The NTC has yet to award any 3G licences, pending a ruling of the Council of State on whether it can allocate frequencies without waiting for the creation of the NBC.

The law stipulates that the regulatory bodies must jointly assign frequencies.

The Central Administrative Court in November nullified the process of selecting NBC members, citing its unconstitutionality. This set the stage for a fresh selection of NBC members.

As for possible social and economic impacts, the NTC working committee cited a recent study by Nokia that found that rolling out a 3G network capable of handling 30 million subscribers would cost about Bt93 billion.

The country would lose a huge amount of foreign exchange but the investment would spur the economy and open up development opportunities for the telecom firms, the NTC panel said.

Almost all of the country's 30 million mobile phone subscribers are low-end users, the panel pointed out. Only 1 per cent are high-end users, 0.5 per cent tech buffs and 4.5 per cent trend-followers - all of who comprise a potential market for 3G.

The committee expected that if the NTC decided to grant licences within this year or next year, 3G services would flourish through 2017.

NTC member Sethaporn Cusripituck said the NTC was expected to finish most of the 3G licensing regulations in the fourth quarter.

Usanee Mongkolporn

The Nation