Thailand raises reserve price in spectrum auction

Thailand raises reserve price in spectrum auction

Thailand’s telecoms regulator has raised the reserve price of the 900MHz spectrum in its upcoming auction in November.

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) will propose increasing the price to $364 million (12.9 billion baht) from approximately $318 million (11.3 billion baht).

Thailand’s spectrum auction has faced numerous delays in the ast year. It was originally scheduled in 2014 but was postponed after the military government gained power in May 2014.

The NBTC has increased the reserve price of the 1.8GHz band by 14% to approximately $447 million (15.9 billion baht). It plans to hold bids for two licences of 15MHz after it approved the return of 5MHz of unused 1.8GHz spectrum from operator Total Access Communication (dtac).

The changes in prices represent 80% of estimated real value of the spectrum, a 10% increase from an earlier draft, according to a top official at NBTC.

The last public hearing for the 900MHz auction will be held August 31 2015. 

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