CrazyExpat Posted October 30, 2009 Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 BANGKOK, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Thailand's auction of long-awaited third-generation mobile phone licences could be delayed to February as the documentation process may take longer than planned, a regulatory official said on Friday. "The appropriate timimg should be late January or early February," Settaporn Kusripitak, one of the members of the National Telecommunication Commission (NTC), told Reuters. The NTC had planned to hold the 3G auction in the middle of December. But it is holding a second public hearing on the draft terms for the auction on Nov. 12, and Settaporn said it should then take around 45-60 days for interested operators to prepare documents, rather than the 30 days previously announced. Licensing is seen as a key step in reforming the sector because companies will pay licence fees instead of paying a portion of their revenue to state-owned firms for the right to operate networks they built and paid for themselves, as they do now. The auctions are expected to generate around $1.2 billion for the state. Telecoms operators are keen to receive 3G licences on the new 2.1 GHz spectrum, which analysts said should reduce their regulatory costs. Among them are top mobile phone operator Advanced Info Service (AIS) ADVA.BK, second-ranked Total Access Communication PCL (TAC) DTAC.BK (TACC.SI) and number three True Move, a subsidiary of True Corp TRUE.BK. http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssTechMediaTelecomNews/idUSBKK41990820091030 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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