Abhisit presses for answers on 3G auction

       Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has increased the political pressure on the National Telecommunications Commission over the 3G mobile service by demanding it answer the questions he has posed over the planned auction of licences.
       Mr Abhisit has insisted the bidding for the service be fair, transparent and non-discriminatory towards the state telecommunications companies.
       Meanwhile, the parliament's human rights protection committee has pledged to scrutinise the NTC and its authority to call the auction.
       The prime minister repeated his demands at a meeting of his economic ministers at Government House yesterday. At the same time, the labour unions of CAT Telecom and TOT Plc rallied with posters opposing the NTC's auction of the 3G licences in December.
       While telling his economic ministers that the auction was within the authority of the NTC, Mr Abhisit said the regulatory body should give clear explanations to the questions which he had raised earlier.
       At its fifth anniversary celebration,he had told the NTC to ensure the auction would be fair, transparent and that CAT and TOT should not be disadvantaged when entering bids.
       He voiced concern that foreign investors with formidable capital would win the licences, especially if the highest bid price was the ultimate goal of the NTC. That would mean higher costs which would have to be passed on to consumers in the form of expensive services.
       He said the NTC had to ensure foreign investors did not have an advantage over Thai companies with limited funds.
       At yesterday's meeting, Mr Abhisit said existing mobile companies operate under different concessions and different rules. But now they will have to compete in a free and open market and the NTC needed to ensure free and fair competition in the auction.
       The economic ministers agreed to the planned auction but advised both TOT and CAT to adjust their strategies to be ready for competition.
       Prime Minister's Office assistant minister Putthipong Punnakan said Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij had advised both state telecoms to adjust for new competition with a promise to give them financial support if they have problems.
       Outside Government House, the CAT and TOT unions gathered to oppose the planned auction.
       Union leaders Pongthiti Pongsilamanee from CAT and Sukhum Chuenmanow from TOT later went to parliament and submitted a protest letter to the Human Rights Committee chairman Somchai Sawaengkarn.
       The unions said the auction breached Article 47 of the constitution which has not listed the NTC as an independent organisation. The letter said the NTC now had only three sitting members from the original seven and therefore lacked a quorum under Article 50 of the Frequency Allocation Law.
       It questioned the hastiness of the NTC to call the auction as the unions felt it was not ready.
       The unions said a significant point was that the National Broadcasting Commission had not yet been formed,meaning there was no joint committee to allocate frequencies.