30MHz on 1,800MHz up for grabs
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THE PLANNED telecom-bandwidth auction at the end of the year is expected to see 30 megahertz of the 1,800MHz spectrum put up for grabs, instead of the 25MHz originally planned, after a resolution yesterday by the National Broadband Committee.
The committee, which is chaired by Deputy Prime Minister MR Pridiyathorn Devakula, acknowledged CAT Telecom’s plan to return 5MHz on that spectrum currently held by Total Access Communication (DTAC) to the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) for the auction.
The Information and Communications Technology Ministry proposed CAT’s plan to the committee to acknowledge.
ICT Minister Pornchai Rujiprapa said this additional bandwidth was estimated to be worth between Bt5 billion and Bt6 billion for the state.
The original plan called for the NBTC to put 25MHz of the 1,800MHz spectrum up for auction in November, of which 12.5MHz was reclaimed from TrueMove and the other half from Digital Phone Co. The commission had estimated the starting price at Bt11.6 billion per licence.
It has asked the International Telecommunication Union to come up with a possible licence starting price for the 30MHz of bandwidth.
The NBTC will hold public hearings on this 30MHz auction plan from July 18 to August 17.
Its secretary-general Takorn Tantasith confirmed that CAT had not attached any conditions to this spectrum transfer and had to transfer it before the start of the hearings.
The licensing body is expected to split the 30MHz into two licences.
