NBTC to decide 'period' today
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Most members 'happy with 15 years' as stated in master plan
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission today is expected to finalise the periods within which the state agencies have to give up their radio, television and telecom spectra for reallocation at four, five and 15 years respectively.
A source of the NBTC’s telecommunications committee said the majority of its five members wanted to maintain the period for the return of telecom spectra at 15 years, the same as that stated in the original draft of the spectrum-management master plan. A minority preferred to shorten it to 12 years.
The source added that the telecom committee would propose to all 11 NBTC commissioners today that they vote to finalise this return period.
The source said most committee members wanted to give the state telecom agencies a long time to enjoy the benefits of their spectra. If not, the agencies might oppose the NBTC’s plan to auction the 2.1-gigahertz spectrum for third-generation cellular service in the third quarter.
TOT has mentioned many times that the watchdog should allow it to keep those spectra with no expiration date for 15 years before giving them to the NBTC for reallocation.
NBTC broadcasting committee member Thawatchai Jittrapanun said it had decided to shorten the periods within which the state broadcasting agencies must return their radio spectra to four years and TV spectra to five years. The original draft had called for five and 10 years respectively.
He said that shortening the period for radio spectra would enable the watchdog to reallocate them to community radio operators as soon as possible.
The NBTC board today will consider approval of the drafts of all three master plans covering spectra, telecom and broadcasting. The board had convened for that purpose last week but postponed the matter as the commissioners could not reach a consensus on the spectrum-return periods.
If approved, it will have the three master plans published in the Royal Gazette at the end of this month. They are the platforms for its auction of the 2.1GHz spectrum blocks.
