Four Thai-registered companies have applied for bidding documents for the two fourth-generation (4G) telecommunications licences in the 1800-megahertz spectrum to be auctioned in November, the regulator announced on Wednesday.
The four companies are Jas Mobile Broadband, part of the Jasmine Group; Dtac Trinet of Dtac Group; Advance Wireless Network of AIS Group; and True Move H Universal Communications.
Col Settapong Malisuwan, vice-chairman of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), said the prospective bidders' qualifications would be examined and those that qualify would be announced in 15 days.
A practice run will be held on Nov 5-6, and the actual auction will be held on Nov 11.
A total of 30 megahertz of bandwidth in the 1800-MHz spectrum will be offered in the form of two licences of 15 MHz each. The licences will be valid for 18 years, until Sept 15, 2033.
If there are three or more qualified bidders, the starting price will be set at 15.912 billion baht, with an increase of 796 million each bid call. When the bidding reaches 19.89 billion baht, the estimated real value of the frequency, the increase will be reduced to 398 million baht for each call. The NTBC expected a three-way auction to realise a minimum of 33.416 billion baht, he said.
If there are only one or two bidders, the starting price will be set at 19.89 billion baht, with increases of 398 million at each call. With this option, the minimum revenue is expected to be 40.576 billion baht.
The 1800-MHz licences to provide 4G services will be issued to the action winners on Nov 30, Col Settapong said.