Thailand’s True won’t join 4G re-auction, AIS shares surge

True Corp, Thailand’s third-largest mobile operator, said on Tuesday it will not participate in a re-auction of the fourth-generation mobile licence, leaving market leader Advanced Info Service Pcl (AIS) as the only bidder.

AIS shares rose nearly 7 percent to the highest since April 20 after True Corp – 18 percent owned by China Mobile – pulled out of the auction saying it already had sufficient bandwidth capacity to provide services.

The telecoms regulator will re-auction the 900MHz spectrum on May 27 after the winner of an auction in December, Jasmine International, failed to make the first payment for the licence and forfeited it in March.

Second-ranked Total Access Communication Plc earlier said it won’t join the re-auction.

True Corp’s move alleviates market fears that the eventual buyer would have to engage in a bidding war to get the licence.