The board of National Telecommunication Commission (NTC) voted unanimously approving the license price for country’s long-await 3G mobile telecommunication system on 2100 GHz bandwidth to begin at 12.8 billion baht.

The NTC announced it will advertise the conclusion as a drafted bulletin on its website for fifty days on Monday.

The auction submission process for the license will be run 30 days after an announcement period.

NTC said it will hold an auction for the license this September without an approval from the Finance Ministry required.

NTC commissioner Major Eknathee Sakulrat confirmed the starting price for the license is deemed appropriated for the current economic condition.

Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij has commented that the license price should not be overly setting, because operators will push operation costs to consumer in the final.

Mr. Eknathee noted he believes that the carriers will not be competing overly for the license in a bidding process.

“I ensure you that the NTC is an independent agency and its decision does not require the Finance Ministry and the Prime Minister approval,” he remarked—referring the past procrastinations in 3G license issue.

Mr. Eknathee added that there will be three 3G licenses open up for bidding through an electronic auction approach simultaneously.