Authorities remain undecided whether to hold a new 4G auction for the licence won by Jasmine International Plc or to hand it over to the second highest bidder using Section 44.
Telecom regulators on Tuesday considered the criteria for a new 4G 900-megahertz auction while Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, as chief of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), said his team was weighing the possibility of using Section 44 to simply grant the licence to Advanced Info Service Plc and avoid all the hassle.
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) on Tuesday approved the draft criteria of the new 4G 900-megahertz auction after one of the winners in the previous auction in December last year failed to fulfil the payment terms.
The NBTC board decided in a 5-3 vote that True Corp would not be allowed to enter the bid as it feared market dominance.
True Move H Universal, a True Corp subsidiary which won in the December auction, will not be allowed to join the new bid, Takorn Tantasith, who heads the NBTC's broadcasting committee, said on Tuesday.
Since the company already won a licence in the December bid, it should not be allowed to join the new bid or it may dominate the telecoms market, Mr Takorn said.
The guarantee for the new auction was set at 3.78 billion baht. If a winner fails to meet the terms, it will have to pay 1.51 billion in damages, he added.
"The bidding result will be in order so if a winner can't pay the fee, the next one on the list will be moved up," he said.
Advanced Info Service Plc (AIS) earlier sent a letter to the NBTC, proposing to pay 75.65 billion baht, the price Jasmine offered in the December bid, so the NBTC does not need to hold the new auction. It is looking forward to a reply before April 14, when a court injunction for its use of the 900MHz spectrum expires.
On this, Mr Takorn said it was up to the NCPO chief, who has absolute power under Section 44 of the interim charter to make it happen.
"The offer shows the reserve price of 75.65 billion baht is not too high. Clearly, an operator is interested."
Total Access Communication Plc (DTAC), another contender, has not made a similar offer but even if it does, AIS would be the priority since it is the second highest bidder in the December auction, Mr Thakoon said.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said on Tuesday his legal team was considering the possibility of using Section 44 of the interim charter to give AIS the licence won by JAS so a new auction does not need to be held.
"We're looking into legal issues and weighing the benefits of [using Section 44] to give the licence [to AIS] now instead of holding a new auction. There are a few bidders anyway," he said.
A 66-hour auction for two lots of 900-megahertz spectrum for 4G use was held in mid-December last year.
JAS Mobile Broadband Co, a subsidiary of Jasmine International Plc, won the first lot (895-905MHz and 940-950MHz) for 75.65 billion baht.
True Move H Universal Communication won the second lot (905-915MHz and 950-960 MHz) for 76.3 billion. The licences are for 15 years, with the reserve price was 12.86 billion.
Advanced Wireless Network, the AIS subsidiary, last offered 75.98 billion for Lot 2 before throwing in the towel while DTAC Tri Net's last offer was 70.18 billion baht for Lot 1.
JAS Mobile, however, failed to pay the first instalment of the licence fee, saying its prospective partner was not ready and it faced a last-minute hassle in obtaining a bank guarantee, prompting the NBTC to find a new winner.
A loan deal which fell through in the last minute was to blame for Jasmine International Plc’s inability to pay for the 4G licence, its CEO told the NBTC on Tuesday.
Pete Bodharamik, who owned 25.8% in Jasmine International, insisted his group was serious about becoming the fourth player in the local mobile market and had set the limit at 80 billion baht at the December auction.
“We failed to put up the bank guarantee and paid the first instalment because Bangkok Bank changed the terms, requiring more personal guarantees. By Jan 20 [a day before the payment deadline], we still could not reach an agreement with the bank," he said.
Jasmine then looked for other banks and Mr Pete said three allies from China were interested to co-invest in the venture. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) also suggested a fund was interested in investing 30 billion baht for a 49% stake in the company.
“But due to the time restraints, we could not strike the deal before the March 21 deadline,” Mr Pete said.