Govt eyes NBTC's bid to reclaim spectra

 

The government has asked the NBTC to submit its plan to manage the spectra use for maximum benefit of all parties, the source said.

The source added that one of the main reasons the NBTC has had trouble reclaiming the spectra is that the state agencies don’t have the budget to switch to other bands after relinquishing the ones they are currently using.

NBTC member Prasert Silphiphat said the commission had failed to complete its goal of reclaiming all of the spectra it believes it needs for reallocation. If the government issued a special order to handle the case, it might make it easy to reclaim the spectra and would benefit all parties, from the national-security agencies to the business sector.

According to the NBTC, the reclamation plan covers the 700-, 800-, 900- and 1,800-megahertz and |2.3- and 2.6-gigahertz spectra, and some others for national-security purposes.

 

Licence auction 

Meanwhile, the NBTC is considering auctioning two telecom licences on 900MHz on November 10 and on 1,800MHz the following day.

NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith said the commission believed there would be fierce competition for the 900MHz licences as it is a low-band spectrum suitable for network expansion. 

He made the remark yesterday in Chiang Mai on the sidelines of a public hearing on the draft of rules governing the 1,800MHz auction.

The 900MHz and 800MHz spectra are currently the only low-band spectra assigned for mobile-phone service.

Advanced Info Service’s 900MHz concession under TOT will expire this September. Total Access Communication’s 800MHz concession under CAT Telecom will end in 2018.

CAT has another 800MHz band but it is already utilising it to provide wireless service with True Corp under a wholesale/resale contract.

Representatives of some telecom operators have said the NBTC should remove the spectrum cap from the auction rules, arguing that there is no good reason to include this condition.

The NBTC says it wants the cap to prevent spectrum hoarding. The auction rules as drafted cap the total bandwidth each telecom operator can own at 60MHz. 

The rule also requires the bid winners to hand over part of their bandwidth if they end up exceeding the maximum after the auction. 

The excess will be transferred to the NBTC or the state telecom agencies, depending on which of them issued the bandwidth in question.