Thai challenger True Move and ISP Jasmine International have won 4G licences in the government’s spectrum auction, which after more than a year’s delay has raised THB152bn (US$4.22bn).
Thai challenger True Move (BKK:TRUE) and ISP Jasmine International (BKK:JAS) have won 4G licences in the government’s spectrum auction, which after more than a year’s delay has raised THB152bn (US$4.22bn).
Both winners had listed parts of their infrastructure businesses within the last two years.
Leading telco AIS (BKK:ADVANC), which did not win a licence in this auction, last month acquired 15 MHz of 1.8 GHz spectrum for THB41bn (US$1.1bn). In that contest, True won a similar block of spectrum for THB39.8bn (US$1.1bn). The 1.8 GHz auction raised THB80.8bn (US$2.25bn).
Number two player Dtac (BKK:DTAC), which is controlled by Telenor (OSE:TEL), did not come away with spectrum from either 4G auction.
True Move, in a stock market filing, said it had won the second licence, covering 905-915 MHz pairing to 950-960 MHz for THB76.3bn (US$2.1bn) excluding VAT.
Jasmine also won 10 MHz of 900 MHz spectrum, paying THB75.56bn (US$2.1bn). Its CEO Pete Bodharamik was today cited telling journalists that the company does not plan to issue equity to finance the spectrum payments, but that it was talking to a foreign partner about a possible stake in Jas Mobile, which could be listed in three years.
The bids reportedly came in at nearly six times above the THB12.8bn reserve price set by telecoms regulator National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).
True, which launched 4G two years ago using 2.1 GHz spectrum, has 1.7 million 4G subscribers, according to the GSMA, while Dtac has 1.6 million 4G users.
The NBTC is forecasting 4G subscriber numbers to reach 20 million in 2016.
The delayed auctions, pushed back following last year’s military coup, coupled with falling voice revenues, has pushed the country’s mobile operators towards cost saving measures such as sharing their towers.
AIS and DTAC are the latest telcos to become tower partners, agreeing to share 2,000 sites to accelerate the expansion of their networks.
The companies aim to start sharing the sites before the end of this year under a pilot scheme, which comes not long after DTAC agreed a separate infrastructure joint venture with state-owned CAT Telecom, due to launch in 2016.
DTAC secured Thailand’s first infrastructure sharing deal in October 2014 by securing a leasing agreement with Truegif, a fund partly held by True Corp.
The partnerships are in line with NBTC’s policy to improve telecoms services through infrastructure and equipment sharing.
