The board of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) on Wednesday postponed consideration of whether to endorse the outcome of the mobile spectrum auction held on June 29, pending a thorough review to ensure there was no collusion.
NBTC chairman Dr Sarana Boonbaichaiyapruck said the relevant documents concerning the auction process were only provided to the commissioners for their consideration late on Tuesday night.
This did not give the board sufficient time for discussion ahead of having to make a resolution on the bid outcome, he said.
Commissioner AM Thanapant Raicharoen said members are concerned about making a resolution and, therefore, need plenty of time in order to carefully consider every aspect.
There was limited competition in the bidding process — Thailand’s two remaining mobile giants were the only ones that met qualifications to take part.
The board has rescheduled its meeting for July 6, as regulations require a resolution within seven days of the date of an auction.
Advanced Wireless Network (AWN), a subsidiary of Advanced Info Service, and True Move H Universal Communication (TUC), a subsidiary of True Corporation, were the only two qualified bidders in the auction of four spectrum bands.
AWN grabbed 30MHz of bandwidth on 2100MHz for 14.8 billion baht, while TUC won 20MHz on 1500MHz and 70 MHz on 2300MHz with a combined offer of 26.4 billion baht.
Neither entity bid for the 850MHz band.
On Wednesday a group led by the Thailand Consumer Council petitioned to the NBTC board to reject the bidding outcome.
Among the reasons they gave was that the auction conditions did not support the entry of a new player into the market.
One auction condition requires a winning bidder to roll out the network to cover 90% of the population in all districts within five years of receiving a spectrum licence. The group claims this condition had never been stipulated in any of the NBTC's previous auctions.