NBTC gives agencies a year to work out spectrum
The national broadcasting and telecom regulator will give state agencies one year to finalise which of their spectra they will continue to use and which they will return for reallocation.
Colonel Natee Sukonrat, a member of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), said the agencies are required by the 2010 Frequency Allocation Law to declare to the watchdog the spectra they hold and the reasons they want to continue using them.
The NBTC wants to finish within four years the “digital switchover plan” under which Thailand will fully adopt digital radio and TV broadcasting systems in place of the present analogue ones, he said.
The commission’s board last week approved the draft frequency=management master plan, which requires state agencies to return their radio spectra to the NBTC within five years, TV spectra within 10 years and telecom spectra within 15 years. This will apply only to spectra not linked to contracts or concessions such as those in the hands of MCOT and the Public Relations Department.
Spectra granted by state agencies to private concessionaires, such as private telecom operators Channel 3 and Channel 7, will be returned to the NBTC once the concessions expire.
The NBTC could demand agencies return some of their spectra before the above deadlines, Natee said, depending on their spectrum-use plans and the status of their negotiations with the commission. They must declare that the spectra they want to continue using will be for commercial purposes or for the public benefit.
Additionally, the maximum periods for returning spectra could be revised or shortened, depending on the NBTC’s needs regarding its digital switchover plan, Natee said.
State agencies with radio and TV spectra should be willing to return them to facilitate the plan, as it will technically increase the number of new spectra available for auction, the commissioner said.
The NBTC based the length of the spectra-return periods on the terms of new licenses for radio and TV licensees, which are seven and 15 years, respectively.
The watchdog is expected to hold a public hearing on the draft spectrum-management plan in January. The plan is expected to take effect in April.
