Spectrum licence auction gets the nod

The first meeting of the ad hoc group, chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, resolved that the NBTC could auction any frequencies ranging from 900 megahertz to 1800MHz and 2.6 gigahertz to better serve rising data demand, said Deputy Prime Minister MR Pridiyathorn Devakula, the vice chairman of the committee.

The NBTC was given the luxury of choosing auction models, mixing frequencies for the auction and putting more bands up for bidding.

The watchdog will have to submit its complete auction plan for the committee’s consideration.

Takorn Tantasith, secretary-general of the NBTC, said the NBTC was ready to start the auction within five months.

The NBTC had intended to open bidding for the 1,800MHz bands of TrueMove and Digital Phone Co in the middle of last year, but in July the junta ordered the NBTC to suspend the auction for one year, pending thorough clarification of the auction plan. 

The spectrum can be used for 4G wireless broadband service.

The NBTC yesterday approved the new spectrum master plan, which includes the availability of 20MHz of bandwidth from the 900MHz frequency.

There are only 17.5MHz of 900MHz currently used by AIS under its concession from TOT. The new master plan combines this band with the idle 3MHz band of the same spectrum. This means when the 900MHz spectrum is auctioned, there will be 20MHz available for sale, instead of only 17.5MHz.

The ad hoc committee also approved the formation of the National Broadband Committee to drive the broadband network to every village in two years and every home in three years. 

Pridiyathorn said he was assigned to chair the National Broadband Committee, which consists of the ICT minister as vice chairman and representatives from the organisations that own fibre-optic networks – the government, state enterprises and private companies. The working group will set up a joint venture of the government and the private sector to operate the network. The companies will contribute their assets, namely the fibre-optic networks, as their investment in the JV.

For the first three months, the group will gather all existing fibre-optic networks from all owners. The JV will be up and running within seven months. Then, it will spend 10 months drafting the ToR for expanding fibre-optic networks throughout the country according to the plan.

The meeting set up an agency under the ICT Ministry to oversee and regulate the National Data Centre with 40-50 sites that combined will have double the capacity now devoted to government data. 

This will allow the private sector to use the services of these information warehouses. “The agency will work as the regulator to determine standards and to govern private companies operating these data centres. 

“It would be around 40 to 50 data centres that might be operated by around 10 private companies, which could possibly be international firms. 

“We will hold an auction for private companies to invest in and operate them under the agency’s regulations,” Pridiyathorn said.

A working committee will be established to carry out this policy. It will be chaired by the ICT minister and include representatives from organisations both government and private as members. This working committee has to determine its agenda and what support it needs.