Critics slam 3G 'giveaway'

News > Local News

Only three out of nine slots attract rival bids

Published: 17 Oct 2012 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

Thailand's long-overdue sale of third-generation (3G) mobile spectrum bandwidth has attracted a storm of criticism.

Top executives of Thailand’s three major mobile phone operators, from left, Dtac CEO Jon Eddy Abdullah; Advanced Info Service (AIS) vice chairman Somprasong Boonyachai; and True CEO Suphachai Chearavanont, pose for a photo prior to the 3G spectrum auction at the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission in Bangkok Tuesday. The auction of 3G licences began with the three mobile phone operators vying for slots from 45MHz of bandwidth on the 2.1GHz band. APICHIT JINAKUL

Academics and politicians alike slammed telecom regulators Tuesday for essentially gifting new licences to the private sector at taxpayer expense.

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samut
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Discussion 25 : 18 Oct 2012 at 18.3025
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Why doesn’t the Green Politics group do what the name says: Green politics! Reforestation, emission cuts and more parks (green lungs) in urban areas; that would help, and maybe other group could work out to get 4G so we could proudly say we belong to the developed part of the world.
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jackfruit
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Discussion 24 : 17 Oct 2012 at 15.2624
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Keep in mind that whatever the auction price is, it will be priced in to what the consumer have to pay. So at the end this is just another tax for the consumer. Also the telcos have not been able to offer real 3G for the last 10 or more years (Germany auctioned the frequencies in 2000). Thats 10 years lost revenue and tax.

It would make sense to do the same process tomorrow with 4G (LTE) licenses. 10 years again of lost tax revenue and innovation will is a bigger damage than cheap frequency giveaways that will be paid for by the consumer.
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topcat_bk
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Discussion 23 : 17 Oct 2012 at 14.1023
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D12: A very insightful, albeit depressing perspective. Opening the telecom market to real competition would be a boon to the consumers, but is extremely unlikely to happen under the current regime. After all we know to whom we owe the 49% share limit in the first place, don't we?
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Merlin
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Discussion 22 : 17 Oct 2012 at 12.4922
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should go straight to 4G instead
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bangmodken
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Discussion 21 : 17 Oct 2012 at 12.1721
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D18 : Thank you. Nice that at least one person is awake. 17 commentators missed the point completely and if I hadn't woken up so late,I would have added to that number.
From the look on the faces of these CEO's,I'd say we have been cheated. The critics are correct in slamming this "auction" as a giveaway. Thailand once again lost,while big corporations with political connections won. Nothing new here.
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Lazarisbk
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Discussion 20 : 17 Oct 2012 at 12.0920
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I'm still happy with 2G, does everything I need.
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alexa
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Discussion 19 : 17 Oct 2012 at 11.3919
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Bangkok Post, may I forward a question ?. Will this now improve your service ?, because presently it is sometimes a long and frustrating ordeal to get connected to your web site.
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maunder
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Discussion 18 : 17 Oct 2012 at 10.0818
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D 13 and others are saying things like: "How is 27 billion baht free for old technology...".
They fail to understand, seemingly, that the auction is NOT for the technology, it's for the BANDWIDTH. Worldwide, the electromagnetic (radio) spectrum is defined as belonging to the people, only administered by local national governments, theoretically for the benefit of ALL.
When private enterprise seeks to use part of that spectrum, they are supposed to pay for that use. They are also supposed to use the frequencies they inhabit for the benefit of the true owners - the people.
Well, that's the idea, anyway.
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mogy71
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Discussion 17 : 17 Oct 2012 at 09.2417
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Eric14: don't exhale too much with that sigh of relief. I still can't get any of the phone operators to provide me with an Internet connection to my house after years of trying and I live in a village near a major city...
Then we were on a boat about 5km from land a few weeks ago when my son exclaimed 'look Dad, 3G on your phone, we can't even get that at home'....
And this lot claim they'll be providing 3G to 80% of us within 2015 !!??.....pass the O2 please !
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alexa
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Discussion 16 : 17 Oct 2012 at 08.1016
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It could be said that they have caught up with the dinosaurs.
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Critics slam 3G 'giveaway' | Bangkok Post: news