An auction committee member of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) on Wednesday said he would not certify the sale of the third-generation (3G) mobile network licences because it did not comply with regulations on quotations submitted for state agencies.
Prawit Leesatapornwongsa said he was dissatisfied with the auction outcome because there was no real price competition in the process. The number of the bidders was equal to the number of the slots auctioned, he said, and this resulted in the total amount raised from the sale being only little higher than the set minimum price.
All three mobile operators -- Advanced Info Service (AIS), Total Access Communication (DTAC) and True Move -- on Tuesday won their full quota of 15 megahertz of spectrum on the 2.1 gigahertz frequency.
The sale fetched 41.625 billion baht overall, only 1,125 billion or 2.78% above the reserve price.
Mr Prawit believed error in the conditions set for the auction caused significant damage to the state and said he would discuss the matter with his legal advisers.
National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) member Supinya Klangnarong told him also disagreed with the auction results but she could not disapprove them because she was not a committee member, he added.