Somchai Lertsutiwong, chief executive officer of Advanced Info Service, said yesterday that AIS would most likely join the bid but the final decision was up to the board.

“We’re interested in all spectrum bands to be auctioned by the regulator,” he said.

True CEO Suphachai Chearavanont declined to say whether True would take part in the new round, but said the minimum bid should be set at Bt75.65 billion, the same price quoted by Jas Mobile Broadband to win a licence last December.

The starting price should be fair to TrueMove H Universal Communication (TUC), which won the 900MHz slot along with Jas, he said. If the final bid in the new round is lower, the regulator should also reduce TUC’s upfront licence fee accordingly.

“We hope the NBTC will give us fair treatment,” he said.

Somchai said that if the final price in the new round is lower than what TUC paid for the licence – over Bt76.3 billion – the NBTC should allow TUC to pay a lower upfront fee.

Lars Norling, CEO of Total Access Communication (DTAC), said that if the starting price was Bt75 billion, it was very unlikely that DTAC TriNet (DTN) would participate.

“As we’ve stated, the Bt75 billion is an unexpected excessive price or artificial demand, caused by a failing bidder,” he said.

“A re-auction should be done keeping all the rules and criteria the same, and a fair re-auction should promote the right price.”

DTAC is looking forward to more details in the information memorandum to be released by the NBTC on April 12.

Public hearing

“Most important, proper public hearings must be proceeded with to ensure that all stakeholders have an opportunity to express their views,” Norling said.

“DTN will take a proactive role in providing our further comments during the public-hearing process to support the NBTC for the successful and effective re-auction of 900MHz Lot 1 to ultimately benefit the country and consumers en masse.”

Takorn Tantasith, secretary-general of the NBTC, said the telecom committee had resolved to expand requirements to include a higher guarantee to be placed before the auction. This could range from 10 to 30 per cent of the minimum starting bid.

This is a change from 5 per cent of the starting price in the first auction, or a Bt644-million guarantee.

The NBTC proposed to maintain the starting price at Bt75.65 billion. However, after the public hearings, the price could be changed.

The telecom committee rejected the proposal DTAC sent to it on Tuesday for TUC to be eliminated from this new round.

“TUC can participate in the new bid round,” Takorn said.

DTAC has said the new round should be limited to the two unsuccessful bidders in the first round – its subsidiary DTAC TriNet and AIS subsidiary Advanced Wireless Network (AWN).

The committee will submit the re-auction plan to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha before this week is out.

The planned new round follows the failure of Jas to pay the first instalment of the upfront licence fee and place bank guarantees for the rest by Monday’s deadline. Jas is a subsidiary of Jasmine International.

The telecom committee also agreed to appoint a nine-member working panel to evaluate the damage caused by this default. They are representatives from Office of the Attorney-General, the Council of State, the Finance Ministry, the Stock Exchange of Thailand, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the NBTC.

The panel will see what the NBTC can do next under its purview regarding the Jas case. It is expected to reach a conclusion within 30 days.

The telecom committee has already cashed in Jas’s Bt644-million guarantee for the first round as a result of its licence-fee payment default.

The SET lifted the suspension it had posted on Tuesday on trading in Jasmine shares but suggested that investors carefully make decisions on Jas’s securities and closely follow the consideration of the regulator on Jas being unable to proceed according to the conditions relating to the spectrum licence.

The lifting of the trading suspension followed the company’s provision of a clear and complete clarification of all material information to the SET.

Jas told the bourse on Tuesday that it was unable to pay the licence fee because it could not obtain a multibillion-baht bank guarantee from an unnamed Chinese partner before Monday’s deadline.

According to Jasmine’s legal adviser, the company would forfeit its deposit of Bt644 million placed with the NBTC because of the payment default. However, there was no other violation of the auction regulations, so there should be no other liability for the company.

Somchai of AIS said that although his company was in talks on a possible partnership with TOT to provide 3G service jointly on the state enterprise’s 2.1-gigahertz spectrum, AIS was still enthusiastic about spectrum auctions.

He expects the partnership agreement to be signed at the end of this month. They have already conducted a technical trial on the use of the band.

He said the lesson from the Jas case was that getting a high final bid for a telecom licence does not always mean the country will benefit. The excessively high price could also unnerve the capital and stock markets. However, he believes Jas’s bid for the licence was genuine.

The Jas case has caused the telecom market to lose Bt500 billion of its value, he said.

DTAC also believes that the proceeds from high-priced spectrum may be seen as a gain for the government in the short run, but there may be adverse consequences in the long run.

Tentative bid schedule

Tentative auction round late June

Possible starting price/Bt75.65 billion

NBTC to consider auction terms and conditions on April 12

Public hearings from April 18May 23

Final plan is expected to be published in the Royal Gazette on May 31

Bid invitations out in June