The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) says the starting price of a digital TV licence for commercial purposes, to be settled next Tuesday, will fall within a range of 140 million to 1.5 billion baht.
A study by Chulalongkorn University, which is advising the NBTC, said there could be many prices for digital TV licences under different assumptions.
The starting price of a standard-definition children's channel is 100-200 million baht for a licence, while a news or variety channel with SD quality has a wider range of 200-400 million baht.
The price of a high-definition (HD) channel licence is 1 to 1.5 billion baht.
Col Natee Sukonrat, chairman of the NBTC's broadcasting committee, said the committee will choose the price that best reflects the real spectrum value.
The price calculation is based on the assumption that the number of bidders will exceed the number of reserved channels in each category. Licence fees will cover 15 years.
The reserve price, the lowest price the auction organiser expects, will be similar to the starting price.
Total revenue from the auction is estimated at 15 billion baht.
Col Natee said the pricing will be approved at a Tuesday meeting.
The watchdog is considering the auction method, which may be different for each category.
An NBTC source said the regulator will organise a mock auction this month.
Thawatchai Jittrapanun, chairman of the NBTC panel in charge of TV competition, said the pricing is lower than prior assessments due mainly to the addition of more channels including HD and news channels.
The fair price for network rent is not officially set, as the interpretation of the must-carry rule is unclear.
A study by Detecon, another NBTC adviser, projected the cost for digital TV broadcasters to comply with the must-carry rule would be 60 million baht a year, 20 million higher than without the rule.