Top Asian firms interested in Thai 3G - regulator

Thailand's long-awaited auction for third-generation mobile phone network licences attracted interest from leading Asian telecoms firms during recent roadshows, an industry regulator said today.

"Several operators showed interest in our 3G plan, but they haven't confirmed. We have to wait for the end of August to see who will submit bids," Natee Sukonrat, a member of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), told Reuters in a text message.

The NTC met representatives from China Mobile, China Unicom, South Korea's SK Telekom, Japan's NTT DoCoMo Inc, KDDI Corp and Softbank Corp during roadshows this week to promote the auction, Natee said.

Foreign investors that are keen to join the auction are required to form a joint venture with a Thai company since Thai telecoms laws limit foreign holdings in companies in the sector to 49%, he said.

The 3G licences have been delayed for several years by political obstacles and frequent changes in government.

The enhanced service will enable operators to tap new revenue through music, video, picture and data services, in a country of 67 million people where almost everyone has a mobile phone.

The NTC has in fact decided to go beyond 3G and auction licences in September for a more advanced 3.9G service based on the same 2.1 GHz spectrum.

The auction for three licences with a starting price of 12.8 billion baht ($397 million) would generate at least $1.2 billion for the state.

The licensing of 3G is a crucial step to reform the $4.7 billion sector because it will involve changes in the way companies pay fees to the government, analysts say.

They reckon market leader Advanced Info Service (AIS) and second-ranked Total Access Communication stand the best chance among existing Thai operators of winning licences because of their strong financial positions.

AIS is 21.4% owned by Singapore Telecommunication, and TAC is controlled by Norway's Telenor.

True Corp, which controls unlisted True Move, Thailand's third-largest mobile operator, has no foreign partner and the market expects the company to look for a foreign partner after the auction.

At 0420 GMT, True shares were down 0.5% at 4.36 baht, while TAC fell 1.7%. AIS was unchanged at 92.50 baht, in line with a 0.03% gain in the broader market.