Per-MHz price of 900MHz licence already well above that of 1800MHz
The latest bidding price for each of the two 900MHz licences, as of 9pm yesterday, had surged to Bt26.066 billion.
At the end of round 26 at 5.32pm, the price of each licence was Bt22.846 billion. The starting price was Bt12.864 billion per licence and the full spectrum value Bt16.080 billion.
After round 25 at 5.15pm, the price of each licence was Bt22.524 billion, indicating that the price per megahertz for a 900MHz licence is Bt150.16 million per year, a huge increase over the Bt149.59 million per MHz per year for two combined 1800MHz licences auctioned last month.
The 900MHz licence contains 10MHz with 15-year period, while the 1800MHz contains 15MHz with an 18-year period.
As of press time, none of the four bidders had exercised the waiver right since bidding started at 9am yesterday.
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) secretary-general, Takorn Tantasith, ensured that the 4G service fee on 900MHz would not be high, despite the high bidding price. The auction condition obliges the bid winners to offer the service at a lower fee than the present 3G service fee.
The average 3G voice and data service fee as of August was 72 satang per minute and 26 satang per megabyte.
The bidding process, hosted by the NBTC at its headquarters on Phaholyothin Soi 8, was on at press time. The four bidders were Advanced Wireless Network (AWN) of Advanced Info Service (AIS), DTAC TriNet of Total Access Communication (DTAC), True Move H Universal Communication (TUC) of True Corp, and Jas Mobile Broadband of Jasmine International.
AWN sent in 10 representatives to take part in the bidding led by AIS board chairman Vithit Leenutaphong and Chua Sock Koong, chief financial officer of AIS’ strategic partner, Singapore Telecom.
TUC sent 10 representatives, led by True CEO Suphachai Chearavanont, who was the last person from the TUC team to arrive at the auction venue, making it just before the door closed.
DTAC TriNet sent eight representatives, led by DTAC CEO Lars Norling.
A telecom industry source said that DTAC is serious about winning the licence this time, as it is not known whether there will be another auction in the next three years when its 1800MHz concession expires. In last month’s 1800MHz licence bidding, DTAC TriNet raised the price just a few rounds before stopping bidding.
Jas Mobile sent three representatives led by director Sombat Punsiripat. Jasmine International CEO Pete Bhodaramik did not take part in this bidding, unlike last month’s 1800MHz licence auction where he took part with four team members.
Takorn said that the 1800MHz auction, Pete decided to stop Jas’ bidding though the price at that time was yet to exceed its bidding budget. Jas’ final price for a 1800 MHz licence was Bt38.996 billion.
Share prices of the parent companies of all bidders closed higher yesterday. AIS’ share price rose 10.82 per cent to close at Bt215, while that of DTAC surged 16.67 per cent to close at Bt49. True’s share price jumped 9.03 per cent to close at Bt7.85, while that of Jasmine International surged 10.26 per cent to close at Bt5.05.
Each 900MHz licence contains 10MHz of bandwidth and is valid for 15 years.
The bidding started at 9am yesterday and will run until 9pm before breaking for three hours. It will resume at midnight and run until 6am this morning before breaking for three hours and resuming at 9am.
