NBTC tells ICT Ministry that TOT must hand over spectra for auction
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THE National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission has told the Information and Com-|munications Technology Ministry that TOT must hand over its 900MHz and 470MHz spectrum bands so they can be auctioned.
The watchdog also told the ministry to inform CAT Telecom that it wanted to reclaim thr state agency’s idle 25MHz of 1800MHz bandwidth so it could be auctioned.
If CAT had no plans to use it, it should return the spectrum, said |NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith.
The NBTC informed the ministry late last week about its desire to re-claim the bands, in what was the |first meeting of their joint panel. The panel was founded to create colla-|borations to propel the Information |and Communications Technology industry.
As part of the state agency’s survival plan, TOT told Technology Minister Pornchai Rujiprapa early last week that it wanted to hold onto the 900MHz spectrum after Advanced Info Service’s concession expired in September next year, returning it when its licence ended in 2025.
TOT granted the 900MHz concession to AIS.
CAT granted the concession for the 50MHz bandwidth of 1800MHz to Total Access Communication and the concession ends in 2018. Of the total bandwidth, DTAC currently uses only half.
‘No response’
“Once the 900MHz concession expires, TOT has to return it for the auction, which will generate income for the state coffers,” Takorn said.
“In the case of the idle 25MHz |bandwidth of 1800MHz, we once |told CAT we want to reclaim it for |auction but CAT made no response to us. Therefore, we asked the ministry to talk with CAT on this issue on our behalf.”
TOT holds the rights to the 2.3GHz, 2.1GHz, 900MHz and 470MHz frequencies.
Once the NBTC had instructed |TOT to return the 470MHz spectrum but it declined and mounted a legal challenge in the Central Administrative Court.
Takorn said that the NBTC had asked the ministry to look into this |case.
The NBTC originally planned to |call bids for the 1,800MHz spec-|trum bands of TrueMove and Digital Phone Co and the 900MHz of AIS |this year but the National Council for Peace and Order instructed the regulator to postpone the auction plan for one year.
The 1800MHz concessions of TrueMove and DPC expired last September.
In a separate matter, the ministry and the NBTC have jointly drawn up |the framework to amend the frequency allocation law, the telecom and broadcasting laws and the computer crime law. It aims to finish the amendments in one year.
