Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has drafted a 5-yeartelecom master plan. Under this plan, the government will focus on promoting the use of new technologies and promoting infrastructure-sharing among telecom operators, The Nation reports. Thailand’s current master plan expires on 3 April 2017.
The NBTC recently organized a focus-group discussion with telecom licence-holders and consumer groups on the new draft, which is expected to be presented at public hearings this November. According to Sutisak Tantiyothin, NBTC executive director of telecommunication policy and the resource management bureau, the new master plan would contain regulations to accommodate new technologies and measures to promote market competition.
At the meeting, DTAC urged the regulator to set a timeframe for the new spectrum auction, to allow telecom operators to draw up future investment plans and make the Thai mobile phone market more attractive to foreign investors. DTAC's licence for 1800 megahertz and 800MHz spectrum under CAT Telecom is set to expire in 2018.
The draft of the new master plan specifies only when existing spectrum will be released from the current holders, without providing a specific auction date. By 2025, there will be 865MHz bandwidth available for mobile phone services, versus 420MHz bandwidth available this year.
In 2018, three spectrum bands will be available for auction, including a pair of 10MHz bands of 800MHz, a pair of 45MHz bands of 1800MHz, and one 15MHz band of 2.1 Ghz. In 2022, a pair of 70MHz bands and one 40MHz band of 2.6GHz will be available. In 2023, a pair of 45MHz bands of 700MHz will be |available. In 2025, a pair of 10MHz bands of 450MHz, a pair of 15MHz bands of 850 MHz, one 90MHz band of 1.5GHz, one 40MHz band of 1.8 GHz, and one 70MHz band of 2.3GHz will be available.
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