The Council of State has ruled the national telecom regulator can proceed with its 900-megahertz spectrum auctions as scheduled today after more than a month of legal interpretation.
The council last Friday announced the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has full authority to auction two licences for the 900-MHz spectrum under constitutional law and the regulator's spectrum management master plan.
The decision has removed previous legal uncertainties concerning the NBTC's authority, secretary-general Takorn Tantasith said. TOT Plc submitted a letter to the Council of State on Nov 5 asking it whether the NBTC had the authority to auction the 900-MHz spectrum.
The state telecom wants to keep 20 MHz of bandwidth on the 900-MHz spectrum after its mobile concession with Advanced Info Service Plc ended on Sept 30.
However, the Council of State sent a letter to TOT last Friday saying the spectrum after the end of the concession must be returned to the NBTC for reallocation by auction.
The council said the NBTC was set up as an independent telecom and broadcasting regulatory body to allocate spectra.
In addition, the NBTC's master plan covering spectrum management took effect in 2012, stipulating that all state enterprises could not hold spectrum after the expiry of concessions. Spectra must be returned to the NBTC for auction.
"There is no longer any doubt about our planned 900-MHz auctions today," Mr Takorn said, insisting the auctions were transparent and beneficial to the public.
Mr Takorn said the NBTC expects the sales of the two licences on the 900-MHz spectrum might reach a combined 60 billion baht -- 3 billion per MHz or 11.1% higher than the 2.7 billion baht per MHz for the 1800-MHz licence.
The cost of the 1800-MHz licence is estimated to account for only 26% of total revenue to be paid to the NBTC compared with the previous 25-30% in concession revenue sharing, he said.
4G operators are required to pay a licence fee of 1.5% of total revenue, a numbering fee of two baht per number and another 3.75% of total revenue as a universal obligation service fee.
Four qualified bidders will participate in today's 900-MHz spectrum auctions -- Advanced Wireless Network, the 3G mobile arm of Advanced Info Service Plc; DTAC TriNet, a subsidiary of Total Access Communication, a subsidiary of True Move; and Jas Mobile Broadband, a subsidiary of Jasmine International Plc.
The bidding time for the auction has been divided into two phases: 9am-9pm and midnight-6am.
Bidders will be allowed a three-hour break inside their auction rooms after the first 12-hour phase of bidding. Another three-hour break will come after 6am on Wednesday morning.