Thailand: 4G auction attracts $1.7 bn

Thailand’s telecoms regulator extended an auction of two 4G licences on Wednesday after fierce competition from four operators, which had drawn nearly $1.7 bln after 15 hours of bidding.

Advanced Info Service, True Corp, Total Access Communication and Jasmine International vied to win the licences for bandwidth on the 1800 MHz frequency.

After 15 hours of bidding, 28.65 billion baht had been bid on the first licence and 30.24 billion baht on the second, more than doubling the estimated value of the bandwidth, according to data from the regulator.

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission initially planned to close the auction at 9 p.m. local time, but decided to give a half-hour hour break before resuming bidding until they have winners, NBTC Vice Chairman Settapong Malisuwan told a news conference.

Full content: TeleGeography

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