Thailand will auction 4G licences this summer, the government confirmed this week, but there is still some debate over exactly what spectrum will be sold off.
The government’s digital economy committee on Wednesday gave the go-ahead for an auction to take place within the next five months, the Bangkok Post reported.
That timeframe was suggested by the government late last year, effectively restarting the mothballed 4G licensing process. The previous government’s pl ans to sell off frequencies in the 1800 MHz and 900 MHz bands were put on ice following the military coup in April 2014.
Now, according to The Nation, the digital economy committee has given telecoms regulator the National Broadcasting and Telecoms Commission (NBTC) the freedom to choose which spectrum bands it will auction and what format the sale will take. It has 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2.6GHz frequencies at its disposal.
The 1800 MHz spectrum the state has earmarked for 4G was previously used by True Move and AIS unit Digital Phone Co (DPC) for 2G services.
Meanwhile, the NBTC also has access to 20 MHz of 900 MHz spectrum, the bulk of which is currently being used by AIS under concession from state-owned TOT, The Nation notes.
There is also a move afoot to add an unused 128 MHz of 2.6 GHz spectrum into the sale, the Bangkok Post said. The frequencies were previously used by state-owned broadcaster MCOT.
The next move in the process will see the NBTC submit its full auction plan for consideration by the digital economy committee.
