Jasmine International won an auction in December 2015 by offering $2.1 billion but lost the spectrum in March when it failed to raise enough money to pay. Rival operator True also bid – and paid for – a similar amount of spectrum for $2.1 billion.
The new auction will be held on June 24, with a starting price – in Thai baht – equivalent to what Jasmine offered. The auction will go up in increments of $4.3 million.
The regulator has decided that True will not be allowed to bid, following complaints from Thailand’s other operators.
AIS, which uses the spectrum for 2G services under a licence that will expire on April 14, has asked the regulator, the NBTC, for permission to carry on offering 2G services on 900MHz. It has said it is willing to pay Jasmine’s winning bid if shareholders approve.
