The NBTC is allowing potential bidders to pick up applications from

Monday to October 8. The submission date is on October 9.

DTAC head of regulatory division and senior vice president, Narupon

Rattanasamaharn said after picking up the application that DTAC would

now conduct a feasibility study of the criteria and procedures for the

license and will submit this to both the investment and full board

meetings to make a final decision on the auction.

The starting bid price of the licence is Bt37.988 billion.

DTAC Chief Corporate Affairs and Business Development Officer Rajiv

Bawa said, “When considering an almost Bt38 billion, there are

procedures any listed company must follow to ensure all stakeholders’

rights are protected. DTAC is therefore appreciative of the NBTC’s

flexibility on the submission timeline. This will ensure sufficient

time for DTAC to properly complete our overall process and governance

procedures.

The NBTC board last week endorsed the latest revised version of the

draft rules for the re-auction of this 900MHz licence. The revision

contains minor changes on wording and the auction timeframe, in line

with views aired at a recent public hearing.

The date for the submission of bid applications has been put back by

one day, to October 9.

Another change is that in the event of only one company submitting a

bid or no bids being received, the submission date will be extended by

seven days to October 16. In the previous draft, the auction was to be

aborted if no bids came in.

The auction date remains unchanged at October 20. If there is only one

participating bidder, the auction will be moved forward to October 28,

from November 3 as previously set.

The NBTC reclaimed 1800MHz and 850MHz from DTAC after its concession

ended this month, rebanding the 850MHz as the 900MHz for auction in

August. However, no firms submitted bid applications for the900MHz,

prompting the first auction to be aborted.