Thailand Auctions 1800MHz and 5G Spectrum Next Year

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission of Thailand (NBTC) plans to sell the remaining 35 MHz spectrum resources in the 1800 MHz band in February 2009. Regulators are reported to be interested in extending the licence period from the current three years to eight to ten years in order to attract more bidders. The auction will be divided into seven groups of 2*5MHz spectrum blocks, including DTAC spectrum resources that expired in September last year. The bottom price for each spectrum is 12.48 billion baht ($379 million).

It is reported that NBTC will launch the 5G spectrum auction at the end of the 1800MHz auction. Takorn Tantasith, NBTC Secretary-General, said the auctions for 700MHz and 260MHz bands were accompanied by additional clauses that the winner would also have access to higher band spectrum resources, such as 3500MHz-3800MHz and 233GHz-28GHz. The official said that the 5G frequency will be reasonably priced to avoid financial burden on operators. The 700MHz band is currently used for digital TV broadcasting business and will be vacated in 2020.