NTC to consider prequalification round

National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) secretary-general Suranan Wongvithayakamjorn made the statement yesterday at a seminar entitled "Thailand's Transition to the 3G Era", hosted by Prachachat Thurakij newspaper.

The proposal is for the NTC to ask telecom operators who have expressed interest in bidding for a licence to sign a so-called "information memorandum" in September. The watchdog will then establish whether they are eligible to enter the bidding process.

Suranan said since Thailand had never auctioned 2.1GHz 3G licences before, a trial auction was needed to ensure the actual auction would go smoothly.

Earlier, the telecom industry expected the NTC to auction off the 2.1GHz 3G licences this year.

But Suranan warned things might not go as planned, because there was a new watchdog being set up - the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) - which would replace the NTC in regulating the telecom and broadcasting industries. No one can say exactly if the NTC can proceed with auctioning off the licences once the new watchdog is up and running.

Suranan said the House of Representative's ad-hoc committee had already examined 26 out of a total of 80 Articles of the combined two versions of the draft law governing the NBTC's establishment.

Total Access Communication CEO Tore Johnsen told the seminar it would not make a big difference if the NTC did not auction the licences until next January, given that telecom operators had already been waiting for them for years.

Advanced Info Service vice chairman Somprasong Boonyachai said cellular operators were ready to bid for the licences.

True vice chairman Athueck Asvanund said the company's cellular flagship, True Move, had sufficient cash to invest in the 3G business.

It has three options for obtaining funds to finance the development. One is a capital increase in True by its major shareholders. The other two are seeking either a foreign private strategic partnership or a foreign state firm as a strategic partner.

In a related matter, Suranan said the NTC would officially award two deals worth a combined Bt27 million to US consultancy Nera today to plan the auction process and study the possible economic impact in the post-3G licensing era.