MCOT, NBTC to seek solution to spectrum row next week
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MCOT and the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission will discuss the former's right to use part of the 2.6-gigahertz spectrum next Monday as the NBTC pursues its plan to reclaim the spectrum for auction.
MCOT has 180MHz of bandwidth on that spectrum. NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith said MCOT had agreed to return 60MHz to the commission but wanted to keep the rest for commercial services. It requested Bt1 billion as compensation for transferring part of the spectrum to the NBTC.
However, Takorn said the NBTC needed MCOT to return an uplink and a downlink band, each totalling 60MHz, for auction to provide fourth-generation wireless broadband service.
If MCOT agrees to the request, the NBTC will hire a consultant to evaluate the value of the bandwidth to determine appropriate compensation, Takorn said. After that, the NBTC will ask the National Council for Peace and Order to approve the compensation plan.
MCOT director-general Sivaporn Chomsuvarn said his company would talk with the NBTC to seek a remedy for any transfer of bandwidth. The state media enterprise has requested both cash and non-cash offers.
Sivaporn added that his company should be compensated for lost opportunity if it had to return 60MHz of the spectrum to the NBTC. After the transfer, the NBTC should support MCOT’s use of the remaining bandwidth for new telecommunication and broadcasting services, such as mobile TV or subscription-based television service.
The resolution of this matter should end up with a memorandum of understanding between the company and the regulator, he said.
The NBTC Office held a meeting with MCOT recently to seek ways out of the deadlock, after the company declined to hand over the 2.6GHz-spectrum bandwidth to the licensing body as instructed last year by the commission’s broadcasting committee.
The committee at that time said MCOT could not utilise the 2.6GHz spectrum to provide broadcasting service as the spectrum was reserved for telecommunications. MCOT later opposed this order before the NBTC board, which then asked the NBTC Office to hold talks with the firm to seek a resolution.
The ad hoc National Digital Economy Committee last month instructed the NBTC to hold auctions for bandwidth on the 900MHz to 2.6GHz spectra. The government will seek ways to compensate the state agencies that have to transfer their spectra for reallocation before their concession periods end.
