The winners of the four 4G licences due to go on sale at the end of this year will together spend 160 billion baht (€4.2 billion) rolling out their networks, a new study shows.
That figure for network infrastructure spend is on top of the cost of spectrum, according to a study from Chiang Mai University, the results of which were shared by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), the Bangkok Post reported on Monday.
The paper noted that the successful bidders will together pay upwards of THB50 billion for their licences, an estimate that could be on the low side. When the NBTC shared details of the 4G contest a couple of months ago, it put the minimum price of the four licences at THB61 billion.
Thailand plans to sell two licences in the 1800 MHz band and two in the 900 MHz band; the auctions will start in November and December respectively and will each take around a month to complete.
The university study also showed that the licence allocation process will stimulate indirect investment of THB260 billion in areas related to the telecoms business, including smartphones, e-commerce and other Internet-based activities.
The launch of commercial 4G services should come in April next year, the Bangkok Post quoted Takorn Tantasith, secretary-general of the NBTC as saying.
Takorn said the country’s mobile operators are keen to launch 4G "to cash in on sky rocketing demand for mobile data," the paper reported.
