DTAC wins approval to upgrade band on 1,800MHz for 4G
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THE NATIONAL Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission’s telecom committee yesterday gave the green light to Total Access Communication (DTAC) to upgrade its idle 25-megahertz band on the 1,800MHz spectrum to provide a fourth-generation cellular serv
The committee has already approved CAT’s request to upgrade this same band to 4G. Both CAT and DTAC needed the NBTC’s approval to upgrade the band jointly.
Sanphachai Huvatanon, acting president of CAT, said the state agency would meet with DTAC on Monday to discuss the upgrade plan.
CAT is asking DTAC to install the 4G network for CAT to wholesale bandwidth capacity to DTAC and other operators to offer services.
DTAC currently uses 15MHz out of 25MHz of the lower band of 1,800MHz granted by CAT to provide 4G.
The telecom committee also ordered all mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) to follow the NBTC’s regulations strictly to register all prepaid users as part of the government’s national-security policy.
Of the 39 licensed MVNOs, only about 10 are active. Of 99 million mobile-phone numbers, 80 million are for prepaid users.
