Last call for concessions
NBTC to auction final telecom slots in 2025
The national telecom regulator is ready to auction the last two telecom spectrum slot concessions in 2025, which will mark the end of the state monopoly in the sector and the concession system.
The two spectrum slots, the 2100- and 2300-megahertz bands, are now being used by TOT Plc under a concession that is scheduled to end in 2025.
“Thailand’s telecom industry is set to completely enter a licensing system in 2025,” said Takorn Tantasith, secretarygeneral of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC). “This will promote fair competition among telecom operators.”
The planned auctions of the two spectrum slots are part of the NBTC’s spectrum management roadmap to handle soaring demand for wireless communication services, he said.
TOT now holds 30MHz of downlink and uplink slots on the 2100MHz spectrum, plus another 60MHz of bandwidth on the 2300MHz band.
The state telecom enterprise was awarded the two spectrum ranges by a now-defunct telecom regulator without an auction. It has the right to provide mobile services on the two spectrum ranges until 2025.
TOT was the first 3G wireless broadband provider nationwide on the 2100MHz spectrum in 2010.
The enterprise is on the verge of selecting partners to jointly provide 4G services on the 2300MHz band under a whole sale-resale contract model. TOT expects to name the winning companies in June and begin providing commercial services in October 2018.
Mr Takorn urged TOT to find new businesses to generate sustainable revenue streams in the long term after the concessions end. Renting existing telecom infrastructure to private operators or working with other operators to provide telecom services under a specific business model are potential options.
Mr Takorn said telecom spectrum is a valuable asset, especially in the digital era. There are 120 million active mobile subscribers.
A combined 420MHz of downlink and uplink bandwidth from various spectra have already been allocated and are being operated by telecom service providers. But Mr Takorn said the amount is inadequate to serve the rapid development of digital innovations in the coming 5G wireless broadband era, due for global commercial launch by 2020.
The International Telecommunication Union has suggested that Thailand needs at least 700MHz of additional spectrum bandwidth to cope with rising demand for mobile broadband by 2020.
Mr Takorn said the NBTC is preparing to auction a total of 380MHz of downlink and uplink slots through four spectrum ranges by 2020. This would comprise 180MHz of bandwidth on the 2600MHz spectrum by this year; 90MHz of bandwidth on the 1800MHz spectrum and 20MHz on the 850MHz band by March 2018; and another 90MHz of bandwidth on the 700MHz spectrum by 2020.
Mr Takorn said the NBTC also plans to introduce rules and regulations to ease the network roll-out for the telecom sector.
The regulator’s new framework for right-of-way and infrastructure-sharing regulations will enable private operators to expand networks faster and more efficiently. To achieve this, the NBTC will coordinate with operators to move overhead cables underground in metropolitan areas.
Mr Takorn said the NBTC will encourage more infrastructure sharing in remote areas to reduce costs and increase efficiency.