For the time being, everyone can breathe a deep sigh of relief that the long-awaited 3G cellular licences are still on track for the big auction next week.
Yesterday, the Central Administra-tive Court threw out the petition from CAT Telecom executives for an injunction against the sale after rejecting their argument that the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) did not possess the authority to award the licences.
The petition was filed despite Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's full support for the NTC and the lack of consent from CAT's board of directors.
CAT executives rushed to hold a meeting earlier yesterday to conclude that the state enterprise needed to file the legal challenge, saying the licences should be allocated by the yet-to-be-established National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC). The NTC also yesterday released the official list of bidders and all three applicants - Advanced Wireless Network of Advanced Info Service (AIS), DTAC Internet Service of Total Access Communication ( DTAC), and Real Move of True Corp - passed pre-qualification.
In effect, the NTC officially kicked off the bidding process. All the three subsidiaries of existing mobile phone operators will now join a rehearsal for the auction tomorrow and Thursday.
The pre-qualification panel, with help from Chulalongkorn University, Thammasat University, the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce and the National Institute of Development Administration, focused mainly on shareholding structures, which must conform to the Foreign Business Act.
NTC member Natee Sukonrat said the NTC chairman would send an official letter to all three companies asking each to identify its eight representatives plus two reserves who would participate in the bidding.
The auction will take place at the Evason Hua Hin & Six Senses Spa in Prachuap Khiri Khan on Monday, with bidding starting at Bt12.8 billion. Measures have been prepared to ensure transparency and prevent bid rigging.
The 3G auction has raised huge criticism. Earlier, the House's subcommittee for communications and telecommunications complained that DTAC was unqualified, claiming that DTAC's foreign shareholding exceeded the 49-per-cent cap under the Foreign Business Act.
After failing to win the Central Administrative Court's support last week, CAT's labour union yesterday made a new move by submitting a petition to the Senate committee on corruption and good governance.
Labour union leader Sukhum Chuenmana said the NTC could have infringed upon the law in several areas, including the granting of new frequencies, which needs consent from the yet-to-be-formed NBTC. He also claimed that the auction was hastily arranged and this blocks CAT Telecom and TOT from entering an offer.
All eyes are now focused on the Central Administrative Court, which in three to four days would decide whether it will review another CAT Telecom petition on NTC's alleged law violations.