The move forms part of the NBTC process for claiming possible damages from the mobile operator, following its failure to pay the initial upfront licence fee and place a bank guarantee for the remaining value to the regulator by the deadline of March 21.

The company won the licence in an NBTC auction last December by proposing a bid of Bt75.65 billion.

Following the default by JASMBB, the licensing body’s telecom committee appointed a working panel to examine whether it was possible to claim damages from the company.

Panel chairman Wongsakul Kittipromwong, who is also director-general of the Office of the Attorney-General’s Corruption Litigation Department, said the committee would on April 12 also separately call in parties related to JASMBB to request more information on the case.

The investigation is expected to be completed within 90 days.

Korkij Danchaivichit, deputy secretary-general of the NBTC, said the working panel had set up three sub-panels: one focused on working out the possible damages claim; another examining whether any of Jasmine International’s telecom and broadcasting licence-holders would be affected by the case; and another identifying those people involved in the case.

JASMBB is a subsidiary of Jasmine International.

The working panel called in Jasmine International chief executive officer Pete Bodharamik on Tuesday to inquire about the case.

Pete told the panel that among the domestic banks, he had contacted only Bangkok Bank about a guarantee as he had a good relationship with the bank and its president, Chartsiri Sophonpanich.

Bangkok Bank had wanted to be the sole provider of a bank guarantee to Jasmine International in regard to the 900MHz licence, he said.

However, while the company had almost clinched the deal, Bangkok Bank on January 20 set a condition that Pete and his father, Adisai, a former education minister, both sign personal guarantees.

Pete said he could not accept this condition as his father was very old, and he did not want him to participate in the deal.

His talks with Bangkok Bank about a guarantee stopped after he took that stance, he told the working panel.

He also told the committee that it seemed attempts were being made to block Jasmine International from obtaining the bank guarantee.

After the discussions with Bangkok Bank had come to nothing, Jasmine International initiated talks with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), which offered to help if the company had a Chinese strategic partner, Pete explained to the panel.

The company then started to seek a possible partnership deal with Chinese companies, including China Telecom and China Unicom, he said.

Pete told the meeting that China Telecom had, however, declined to be its partner, and that he had also had a meeting with China Unicom.

He also approached a company he called China Sharing Mobile, but had received no response, he added.

A large investment fund supported by ICBC said it was ready to support Jasmine International to the tune of around Bt30 billion and take a 49-per-cent stake in the company, but the processes could not be completed by the March 21 deadline, the CEO told the working panel.