NBTC changes tack on satellite slot selloff after auction flops

Details: John Tanner; Category: Satellite Networks; 01 August 2024; 6361 views

Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has reportedly changed its strategy for allocating two unsold satellite orbital slots after last week’s auction failed to attract any bids.

According to the Bangkok Post, the NBTC board voted unanimously to sell the orbital slot packages of 50.5° East and 142° E via a beauty contest method instead, under which participants can set their own bidding details and name their price.

NBTC commissioner Sompop Purivigraipong said top priority will be given to proposals that mainly focus in helping Thailand keep the rights to the orbital slots, the report said.

The rights to the 50.5° E slot will expire early next year, while the 142° E slot will expire in 2027. Thailand – which considers the orbital slots to be “national assets” – will have to surrender them to the International Telecommunication Union if it can’t get anyone to purchase them before then.

The NBTC has been trying to find someone to buy the slots since at least January 2023, when it held an auction for five sets of orbital slots. Thaicom affiliate Space Tech Innovation paid THB797 million (US$22.1 million) for two sets (78.5° E and 119.5° E/120° E), and state telco National Telecom (NT) paid THB9.07 million for the 126° E slot. However, the slots for 50.5° E and 142° E went unsold.

The NBTC hoped to sell the slots in an auction this month. However, the bid deadline of July 23 came and went with no submissions. The Post reports that Prompt Technology and Thaicom subsidiary TC Space picked up bid envelopes, but neither firm ultimately followed through.

The result was largely expected by industry watchers. At an NBTC focus group meeting in April 2023 to discuss how best to allocate the two slots, satellite players said they would prefer any method except an auction.

Sompop said the NBTC board aims to have the criteria for the beauty contest finalised in the next couple of weeks, while the contest is slated to take place sometime in September.

If the beauty contest also flops, the NBTC’s remaining option is to take ownership of the slots itself, the report said. Sompop said the NBTC office will conduct a feasibility study on this and submit it to the board within two weeks, although he added, "It is unclear whether the NBTC can act as an operator to reserve the rights to use the orbital slots by renting a satellite and drag it into the 50.5° E location before the expiry date.”

As a safety net, the NBTC will also seeks extensions from the ITU to keep hold of the slots until it can sell off the packages, the report said.