3G Auction

Post by **BobHelm** » October 17, 2012, 9:26 am

Well the long awaited Thailand 3G mobile spectrum bandwidth Auction is done & dusted.
There is now much criticism of the process, which did raise 41.625 billion baht. However that figure is only a tiny 2.78% above the reserve price. So just about enough to get the job done, but not much more.
AIS, DTAC & TrueMove all gained their maximum quota of 15MHz of spectrum in an auction that only lasted 6 hours & has more than a little suggestion of 'fix' about it.
Only three of the nine slots auctioned attracted competition. Six of the slots, representing 5MHz each, sold at the minimum reserve price of 4.5 billion baht.
The total loss for taxpayers is over 16.3 billion baht, based on price recommendations made by Chulalongkorn University economists hired by the NBTC to consider benchmark prices.
Meanwhile the regulator suggested that the aim was not to get the maximum amount of cash, but to release 3G availability to Thailand.
Well I guess he had to say something...
There are, already, legal challenges in the courts objecting to the auction.

It is a huge pity that this shambles just seems to roll on & on.
4G communication is the buzz system in most parts of the world today with new equipment (like i-phones & Samsung Galaxies) being released daily to take advantage of that.
Thailand has had such a long time to conduct the auction in a transparent & effective manner. It would appear to have failed completely to do that..

Post by **kjellsnell** » October 17, 2012, 9:45 am

For the moment i am in Hua Hin and use True move so called....3 G....it is ok to read news and check mails...works like my old gsm connection in Sweden......10 years ago! To call this 3G is a scam and in any country in the world they should be standing in front of the court for this.....stealing money from people. In weekends, when all the BKK thais come here, everybody have there Iphones and pods....i use me old nokia gsm phone....anywhy...they couldnt stream anything whit there fancy phones and pods!

Post by **kjellsnell** » October 17, 2012, 10:17 am

kjellsnell wrote:For the moment i am in Hua Hin and use True move so called....3 G....it is ok to read news and check mails...works like my old gsm connection in Sweden......10 years ago! To call this 3G is a scam and in any country in the world they should be standing in front of the court for this.....stealing money from people. In weekends, when all the BKK thais come here, everybody have there Iphones and pods....i use me old nokia gsm phone....anywhy...they couldnt stream anything whit there fancy phones and pods!

[img]

[/img]

Post by **parrot** » October 29, 2012, 6:32 pm

Seems like every day brings a new challenge to the Oct 3G auction.......now the TOT union and ten senators are questioning the legality.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/3 ... dmin-court

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/busines ... 93228.html

Meanwhile, Laos is set to roll out 4G next month.

I can't read the numbers on my 7 year-old Nokia phone anymore......I'm surprised it continues to hold a good charge.....but upgrading to anything but a basic phone at this point seems to be a waste. Of course, for the 2995 that I spent on the Nokia, I can get a pretty spiffy smart phone........too bad I won't be able to put it to good use.

Post by **bumper** » October 31, 2012, 8:54 am

Amazing how much more control Communist Countries have. Lao may change drastically, with the new Dam and selling power to Thailand. The mouse that roared is on the move. Still no place for me to be.

3-G was mired in Politics three years ago and it still is. Me being old fashion and using a phone for calling others. Doesn't really matte. I also see where the demonstrations against the Government are starting again. If that aspect continues, could cause great harm to the economy again.

Post by **kjellsnell** » October 31, 2012, 10:00 am

Its all about corruption - if the Thais went hard on corrupt politicians like China do - we have 3G and also 4G 10 years ago - in that way - theformer communist countrys have ten million times bigger chances to develop there countrys!

Post by **bumper** » October 31, 2012, 12:05 pm

Even China has it's problems they deal with anything that becomes public harshly. The advantage they have is they say something is going to happen they make sure it does. Thailand is headed for more and more demonstration's I fear. This country is not unified as they would like everyone to think. The Red, Yellow and the unknown's are still in the game.

I made a few baht and got out of the market. Happy to say I did make a few Baht.

The graft is just part of living in Asia.

Post by **kjellsnell** » October 31, 2012, 3:11 pm

bumper wrote:Even China has it's problems they deal with anything that becomes public harshly. The advantage they have is they say something is going to happen they make sure it does. Thailand is headed for more and more demonstration's I fear. This country is not unified as they would like everyone to think. The Red, Yellow and the unknown's are still in the game.

I made a few baht and got out of the market. Happy to say I did make a few Baht.

The graft is just part of living in Asia.

China ha of cause a lot of problem whit the fast development of the country but....when things like corruption come up...they strike hard. The same whit Laos and Cambodia.....About the 3G auction i Thailand i see it like a big joke, and any one whit some kind of IQ knows it only something to show up for the public. The real deal was set long time before the auction comes up and it is not so hard to fin out in whose "kapaow" the big money goes. It is soon election time again in Thailand - this time local Tambon. They already start give money for the up coming votation and this is in fact a redshirt Yang wat.....nothing has change as i can see!

Post by **parrot** » December 19, 2012, 8:48 pm

This extract from today's The Nation, p. 4A
Headline: "True Upbeat on Imminent Arrival of Full 3G Era"
......"The three holders of 2.1gigahertz licenses, True Corp's Real Future, Advanced Info Services Advanced Wireless Network, and DTAC Netork of Total Access Communication will start setting up their 3G 2.1GHz networks soon. They are expected to launch 3G services by the second quarter of next year."

Back in September, I saw an interview on MCOT TV of the NBTC Commissioner who said that Thailand does not currently have 3G. What is advertised as "3G" is actually 2G modified. His interview, along with the info in today's The Nation, leads me to believe that what a lot of people think is 3G on their smartphones isn't the real McCoy.

http://www.udonmap.com/udonthaniforum/p ... OT#p305481

Post by **TicToc** » December 19, 2012, 9:48 pm

Thanks for the update Parrot.

Post by **bumper** » December 20, 2012, 2:27 pm

Man that was a long time coming

Post by **FrazeeDK** » December 20, 2012, 4:56 pm

and now that all the court challenges have been overcome the consensus is that next year the government will quickly auction off 4G spectrum..

Post by **parrot** » December 21, 2012, 9:12 am

Further indications that what a lot of people this is "3G" today is actually 2G modified. Thus the speeds are still on the slow side.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/tel ... ccelerates

Post by **udonthani** » December 21, 2012, 4:55 pm

Family in Europe tels me that 4G has started up in Denmark and several bigger towns has already full coverage of 4G and it gives an astonishing speed on Smart Phones