Thailand’s state owned telco TOT Corporation has asked the regulator for 15 years to run LTE on 64 MHz of its 2.3-GHz spectrum.
Panthep Jamrusromran, TOT Board Chairman, announced the plan after a board meeting and said that he was already in negotiations with the regulator, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission.
He said that the 12 or 7 year time frame mooted by the NBTC would not allow for stability in an MVNO agreement with the private sector and would turn away potential partners due to the short timeframe.
He said that he had proposed a swap whereby TOT relinquishes 34 MHz of its 2.3-GHz spectrum immediately, in exchange for a 15 year licence on the remaining 64 MHz it has.
The plan is for TOT to roll out 4G LTE on 2.3-GHz band alongside its 2.1-GHz 3G expansion.
Thailand’s new Frequency Allocation Act of 2010 empowers the regulator to set an arbitrary date for spectrum which is not under concession, and thereby treat it as if it were under a concession before refarming under licence.
TOT’s board had earlier sacked its CEO in January leaving the politically-appointed board directly in charge of day to day operations. The previous board stepped down in September 2011, just after a new ICT Minister was appointed following the election victory by Shinawatra’s Phue Thai party.