The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) plans to ask the Council of State to carry on with a hearing for the auction draft for the 1800- and 850-megahertz spectrum in December if new NBTC officers are not appointed.
It is uncertain if the auction draft can take place until new NBTC officers are appointed.
NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith said the move is the result of a resolution by the commission's board meeting yesterday.
The existing NBTC board is working on an interim basis as its six-year term expired in October. The new NBTC Act came into effect in June, requiring the government to form a new NBTC board. The existing officers can carry out the commission's functions until new officers are appointed.
Mr Takorn said the existing board can work and expedite all routines as allowed by the new NBTC Act, but the board needs clarification on whether the planned auction falls under the definition of "mandatory job".
The National Legislative Assembly's selection committee for the new NBTC board is only at the preliminary stages of drafting the new NBTC qualifications and recruitment process for board members. This makes it hard to anticipate when the final recruitment will be officially announced.
Mr Takorn said the existing NBTC board is moving ahead the planned auction of the 1800 and 850-MHz spectrum licences in May 2018.
"NBTC has to clarify its role and authority, especially if the new NBTC board is announced while the existing board is carrying out the auction process," he said.
Mr Takorn said the interim NBTC board yesterday approved the auction design draft for the 1,800 and 850-MHz spectrum, comprising a total of four licenses targeted to generate a combined benefit of 150 billion baht to the state.
The auction's design is based on the auction of 4G licences in 2015, with a focus on the starting price of each spectrum in order to promote fair competition of licence prices for operators.
The 1800 and 850-MHz spectrum ranges are now operated by Total Access Communication under concessions from state-owned enterprise CAT Telecom, which will expire on Sept 30 next year.
NBTC needs to hold public hearings for the draft in December, and plans to hold auctions by May next year before awarding licences to the winners by June 2018, or two months ahead of the expiry of the concession.
