NTC to hold public hearings

Suranan Wongvithayakamjorn, secretary-general of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), said yesterday the report of InterConnect Communications listed four options for licensing the 2.1-gigahertz spectrum: first come, first served; an auction; a "beauty contest"; and a combination of auction and "beauty contest".

In the "beauty contest", telecom operators would vie to come up with the most attractive 3G business proposals.

The consultant also proposed four alternatives for carving up the NTC's 45-megahertz bandwidth from the 2.1GHz spectrum: 5MHz with nine licences; 10MHz; a combination of 10MHz and 15MHz; and 15MHz.

The NTC will evaluate the hearing's results in July and finalise the licensing terms and conditions in August, Suranan said.

The top three cellular companies - Advanced Info Service, Total Access Communication and True Move - are waiting for the NTC to grant them 2.1GHz licences to offer the 3G service.

The third-generation technology can offer bandwidth-hungry content, such as video calls to 3G mobile-phone users at blazing speeds.

Earlier, the NTC reached an understanding that 3G licences should be granted by the auction method.