Thailand’s DTT auction registers 49 bidders

At the close of the pre-bidding process, Thailand’s National Broadcasting & Telecommunicatons Commission had ‘sold’ 49 bid documents to a total of 33 companies seeking capacity on one of the 24 commercial TV licences on the nation’s digital terrestrial system.

Advanced TV News reports the broadcasting regulator is in the preliminary stage for the digital terrestrial TV auction which will likely take place by the end of this year or early in 2014.

For the seven SD channels up for grabs, 17 companies have bought the bid documents and 12 companies have picked up the bid documents for the seven HD variety channels.

Some prominent companies and corporations that have picked up the documents are the National Media Group, TrueVisions, Thai Rath and Bangkok Broadcasting Television.

MCOT picked up the documents for children’s TV channels as well as variety programmes in both SD and HD. NBC Next Vision picked up a singular document for a news channel.

NBTC will be taking 45 days to deliberate and scrutinise the profiles of the companies that will be bidding and approving them accordingly.