Two overseas telecom operators, Telekom Malaysia and South Korea's KT, will meet the national telecom regulator next week to seek details of its planned auction for licences to operate 3G services on the 2.1GHz spectrum.
National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) member Natee Sukonrat revealed plans for the meeting yesterday on the sidelines of a seminar called "3.9G: New Dimension in Communications in Thailand", held by Nation Broadcasting Corporation (NBC).
Natee said the NTC would hold roadshows in Europe next week to meet telecom operators there, such as Vodafone, Orange and Deutsche Telekom, to invite them to join its 3G auction.
The NTC plans to hold the auction in the fourth week of September. Its licensing plan was published in the Royal Gazette yesterday.
The commission has already held roadshows in China, South Korea and Japan.
Natee said most foreign telecom operators asked for details of permissible foreign ownership in the 3G business. This is subject to the Foreign Business Act and the Telecom Business Act, both of which restrict foreign shareholding in a local telecom firm to a maximum of 49 per cent, he said.
Speaking at yesterday's seminar, Natee said it was expected that between 20 and 30 per cent of 2G mobile-phone subscribers would switch to the 3G networks in the first three or four years of their operation.
Another panellist, Advanced Info Service (AIS)'s chief executive Wichien Mektrakarn said on the sidelines of the seminar that AIS had already made credit arrangements with five local financial institutions in preparation for the licence auction. This was part of AIS's plan to invest in development of 3G services. The company has set aside more than Bt15 billion for the licence auction.
The NTC has set a price of Bt12.8 billion to start bidding at the auction for each of three licences.
Total Access Communication (DTAC)'s head of corporate affairs and strategy Thana Thienachariya said DTAC intended to bid for a 3G licence, but the final decision would depend on shareholders.
He said DTAC was concerned about a clause in the licensing plan requiring the 3G-licence winners to return their existing 2G spectra to their concession owners TOT or CAT Telecom, for remanagement.
Taj Bussadeegarn, an executive of True Corp, the parent company of TrueMove, said TrueMove would go for a licence as its concession would end in 2013. However, it was opposed to the high starting-bid price.
Each of the successful 3G telecom operators is expected to spend between Bt50 billion and Bt100 billion on the initial phase of rolling out a 3G network.
AIS's share price closed at Bt92.50 yesterday, unchanged from the previous day, while that of DTAC closed at Bt45, down 1.10 per cent. True's shares closed at Bt4.28, down 2.28 per cent.
RS's vice president for online business Artyt Lerdrakmongkol said the 3G technology would enable mobile phone users to consume more digital content, which would benefit the digital-content business.
Poramate Minsiri, owner of well-known content homepage Kapook.com, expressed concern that 3G technology, which will enable faster wireless data transmission, might bring the problem of faster access to inappropriate content.