Industry academics have thrown their full support behind the telecom regulator's plan to use "package bidding" for expiring mobile concessions running on the 900- and 1800-megahertz spectrums.
Package bidding, a common practice internationally, allows bidders to make a single bid for a group of frequencies or licences.
Duenden Nikomborirak, a scholar at the Thailand Development Research Institute, said the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) could use package bidding to give operators and regulators more time to prepare and implement strategies on how to handle their services after concessions expire.
It could also encourage the watchdog to design the spectrum auction in a more flexible and fair way for multiple bidders.
On Sept 15, the concessions for True Move, a unit of True Corporation, and Digital Phone Co (DPC), a unit of Advanced Info Service (AIS), will expire under agreements with state-owned CAT Telecom. They use 25 MHz of the 1800-MHz spectrum.
The concession for AIS under an agreement with TOT Plc using 17.5 MHz of the 900-MHz spectrum will expire in September 2015.
The NBTC is set to auction the 1800-MHz spectrum in the third quarter next year and is mulling the possibility of package bidding.
True Move and DPC have a combined 18 million subscribers for 2G services on the 1800-MHz spectrum. AIS has 36 million subscribers on the 900-MHz spectrum.
Under the NBTC's master plan for frequency management, concessionaires must return spectrums to the NBTC after expiration. The regulator will then reallocate them for optimum benefits to the public.
Ms Duenden said if the package bidding is held before September 2015, the winner of the 900-MHz spectrum could have the right to use it once the AIS concession ends.
The 1800-MHz and 900-MHz frequencies could be further upgraded to 4G services.