The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has set the time frame for the fourth-generation (4G) mobile spectrum auctions in November and December, according to secretary-general Takorn Tantasit.
The NBTC will put up for sale 45 MHz of spectrum in two bands — 25 MHz of the 1800-MHz band and 20 MHz of the 900-MHz band — more than double the 17.5 MHz it planned to sell earlier.
The auction date for the 1800-MHz band was set on Nov 11. After month-long public hearings on the auction end on July 17, the NBTC will sell the term of references (ToR) between Aug 28 and Sept 28. Bidders will submit documents on Sept 30.
For the 900-MHz band, the auction will take place on Dec 15. Public hearings will be held from Aug 5 to Sept 9. Bidders can buy the ToR between Sept 28 and Oct 28 and submit documents on Oct 30.
Mr Takorn said the time frame had been acknowledged at the cabinet meeting in Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri Khan province, on Friday.
As for projected starting prices, the NBTC told the cabinet the two 12.5-MHz licences of the 1800-MHz band were estimated to fetch at least 16.57 billion baht each, up from an earlier forecast of 11.6 billion baht made by the International Telecommunication Union.
The estimated starting price for the two 10-MHz licences of the 900-MHz band is likely to be at 16.085 billion baht.
The NBTC targets to bring in state revenue of at least 65.31 billion baht from the auctions.
4G data transmission is much faster than 3G, at least 100 megabits per second (Mbps) for high-mobility communication (users in cars, trains, etc.), and at least 1 gigabit per second for low-mobility communication (pedestrians and stationary users) compared to up to 42 Mbps of 3G.