A Study on Designing Thailand's IMT Multiband Auction

Thailand's planned 2025 multi-band spectrum auction offers an opportunity to encourage a robust mobile communications market. An effective auction program is needed to turn this opportunity into a reality that the people of Thailand can enjoy for many years. The NBTC, as the regulatory body overseeing the telecommunications sector, plays a crucial role in this process, ensuring that the auction is conducted fairly and transparently.

This video is an all-day workshop on the auction design led by Professor Peter Cramton of the University of Maryland and the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods. The first part discusses the pros and cons of the three auction formats used in spectrum auctions globally: 1) the simultaneous multiple-round auction (SMRA), 2) the combinatorial clock auction, and 3) the simultaneous clock auction. Professor Cramton examines the use of these auction formats in six countries—Thailand, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia. He identifies the circumstances where one format is preferred to another. He makes a recommendation from these case studies and his experience in many other countries and sectors.

The second part goes into more detail about the recommended auction design, the simultaneous clock auction. The use of an opening price instead of a reserve price is discussed to encourage competition in the auction. To promote competition in the downstream communications market, it is proposed that the licenses include an obligation to sell 15 percent of capacity at every time and location into an open access wholesale market conducted by TIMO, the Thailand Independent Market Operator, which is a new non-profit organization enabled by NBTC. The obligation assures a competitive wholesale market, fostering innovation in the retail market.

There are two podcasts related to this workshop at
https://dashboard.rss.com/podcasts/fo...
Season 1, Episode 2: An open access global communications market
Season 1, Episode 3: Thailand Independent Mobile Operator to foster competition and innovation

Short clips:
01 Objective    • 01 Objective  
02 Simultaneous clock auction    • 02 Simultaneous clock auction  
03 Auction format is one piece of the puzzle    • 03 Auction format is one piece of the...  
04 Online dominates on-site auction    • 04 Online dominates on-site auction  
05 Key simplifications    • 05 Key simplifications  
06 Simultaneous clock auction is best    • 06 Simultaneous clock auction is best  
07 Competition and innovation are essential    • 07 Competition and innovation are ess...  
08 Enhancing substitution is critical    • 08 Enhancing substitution is critical  
09 Deposits should be disclosed    • 09 Deposits should be disclosed  
10 Spectrum packaging    • 10 Spectrum packaging  
11 TIMO mission    • 11 TIMO mission  
12 Opening prices    • 12 Opening prices  
13 Processing bids    • 13 Processing bids  
14 Competition    • 14 Competition  
15 Real-time is physical    • 15 Real-time is physical  
16 Contiguous spectrum    • 16 Contiguous spectrum