Thailand’s telecom regulator, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), sets reserve price for the long-awaited auction of third-generation (3G) mobile phone license on Wednesday at 4.6 billion baht ($138-156 million).

The NTC said the reserve price is the minimum amount the country expects to receive from each four license auctions, which will start at 4.6 billion baht ($138 million) for 10 MHz bandwidth and 5.2 billion baht ($156 million) for a 15 MHz bandwidth.

NTC deputy-secretary Prasert Apipunya said it is unclear whether the regulator would open the auction in the middle of December.

He said the board at NTC would hold a referendum to discuss the 3G license reserve price on November 12 before it is finally proposed as regulation.

The process would take around 45-60 days, and thus the auction may be delayed to January 2010.