Jas Mobile Broadband, a newly established subsidiary of Thai telecommunications group Jasmine International, has assigned at least THB 50 billion to bid for 1800 MHz licenses and for the rollout of the 1800 MHz network, local newspaper The Nation reports, citing Jas Mobile director Sombat Punsiripat. "We'll join the bidding for sure and we're serious about acquiring a license", Punsiripat said.
Jasmine set up Jas Mobile in August to enter the mobile phone service market. According to Punsiripat, Jas Mobile's top priority is to bid for the 1800MHz licence, that would allow it to provide 4G broadband services on the local market.
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has set 11 November as the bidding date for the two 1800 MHz licenses. The Commission is in the process of finalizing the auction date of the two 900MHz licenses.
The bid documents for the 1800MHz licences have already been acquired by seven companies, namely Advanced Wireless Network, DTAC Trinet, DTAC Broadband, TrueMove H Universal Communication, Hutchison Telecommunications (Thailand), Real Move and Jas Mobile.
Punsiripat also said that if Jas Mobile acquires a licence, it will target 3 million 4G subscribers within the first year of operations by tapping 1.8 million existing broadband subscribers of Jasmine's broadband internet service provider Triple T Broadband. The number of Triple T's broadband Internet subscribers is expected to soon hit the 2 million households milestone, with each household having around 5 members.
