The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has called for the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to study its 2.1-GHz 3G auction to set up guidelines for the next spectrum auction.
"We expect to learn some lessons from the ITU," said Jesada Sivaraks, secretary to the NBTC's vice-chairman.
The ITU's regulatory management team came to the NBTC headquarters yesterday to start verifying last month's 3G auction process.
The NBTC plans to move ahead with other auctions, including the 1800-MHz spectrum being used by True Move and AIS subsidiary Digital Phone and on which 4G could be developed; and the 900-MHz spectrum being used by AIS.
Critics charged the Oct 16 3G auction was uncompetitive because all three qualified bidders were essentially guaranteed allotments simply by making bids at the reserve price.
Mr Jesada said two competitive issues need to be answered.
The first concerns whether the 49% foreign ownership limit will be scrapped under the Foreign Business Act to allow more bidders.
The other concerns the Frequency Allocation Act that prohibits the transfer of usage rights of spectrum management from licence holders to other parties.