Thai junta seeks to gift 4G spectrum to good telcos

Don Sambandaraksa
12 Dec 2014
00:00

Thailand’s ruling military junta has written to the telecoms regulator asking if it would be possible to allocate 4G spectrum for operators committed to the greater good instead of through an auction.

Thailand is due to re-auction all of 900-MHz and much of 1800-MHz soon. Originally the plan was to auction the spectrum this year, though that was delayed by the coup.

National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) member for legal affairs Meechai Ruchuphan has asked the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) if it were possible to assign spectrum to those committed to using it for the greater good instead of through an auction. The NBTC has set up a committee to look into the matter and is expected to report back to the government and junta by January.

Such a move would be consistent with the requests of state telcos CAT Telecom and TOT corporation for free spectrum as part of their survival plan going forward.

NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasit said that the NBTC act requires spectrum allocation to be made by auction only. However, he did say that the NBTC could lower the licensing fee to 1% in the hope that the licencees would pass the savings on to consumers.

Currently the licensing fee stands at 5%.

Meanwhile, the working group drafting the new constitution has announced that the NBTC would be renamed to, roughly translated, the National Public Communications Regulatory Commission. The working group has also decided to reduce the tenure of commissioners down to five years from the current six years.

The draft new constitution would define the commission’s work as allocation of spectrum and the application of technological networks for the greatest benefit of the people, communities and the state, a move that de-emphasises the broadcasting element of the current converged regulator.

Prior to the establishment of the NBTC, oversight of broadcasting lay directly with the Prime Minister’s Office.

Previously, in light of excessive overseas trips by NBTC commissioners, the junta-appointed national legislative assembly has called on the NBTC to be scrapped and regulatory powers returned to the state telcos.

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