NBTC vows to move quickly towards 4G
The fourth generation of cellular broadband service will be coming next, after the much-delayed auction of 3G licences is held as planned in the third quarter, the telecom regulator said yesterday.
Settapong Malisuwan, a member of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, made the vow during the kick-off of the 4G-service trial by Advanced Info Service-TOT and CAT Telecom-Digital Phone Co.
The NBTC expects to open bidding for 2.3-gigahertz and 1,800-megahertz licences in 2013 or 2014 to provide 4G service after it is able to reclaim the frequencies from their holders.
AIS-TOT and CAT-DPC each launched a non-commercial trial simultaneously in Bangkok and Maha Sarakham with the NBTC’s permission. AIS is estimated to have spent US$1 million (Bt31 million) on this trial, which also covers the cost of DPC, which is an AIS subsidiary.
AIS-TOT and CAT-DPC also demonstrated a 4G videoconference between their teams in Bangkok and Maha Sarakham province.
The NBTC has allowed cellular operators to test this Long-Term Evolution (LTE) service as part of its preparation to issue licences for advanced cellular broadband technology in the future.
AIS-TOT is testing the 4G service on 20MHz of bandwidth from TOT’s 2.3GHz spectrum with 20 base stations around Bangkok until May 26. One area covers Rama I Road and the CentralWorld shopping mall.
CAT-DPC is running its service on 10MHz of DPC’s 1,800MHz spectrum in the vicinity of Rajabhat Maha Sarakham University, using initially eight base stations. The test will end in March.
The four telecom operators have jointly deployed networks from Cisco Systems, Huawei Technologies and Nokia-Siemens Network in their 4G trials.
True Corp reportedly plans to test the 4G service with CAT in some provinces.
THE NATION
