Thailand raises more than THB 100 billion in 5G spectrum auction

News Wireless Thailand 17 FEB 2020
Thailand raises more than THB 100 billion in 5G spectrum auction
Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has raised THB 100.5 billion (VAT excluded) in its 5G spectrum auction held on 16 February. The regulator auctioned 49 licences of three spectrum bands, including 700MHz, 2600MHz and 26GHz. Of the 49 licences put on auction, 48 were taken up, leaving just a single licence for the 26GHz spectrum unsold, The Nation reports. There were 27 licences in the 26GHz frequency band on auction.

Five operators participated in the auction, namely Advanced Info Service’ mobile unit AWN, dtac TriNet, TrueMove H Universal Communication (TUC), and state-owned operators CAT Telecom and TOT.

The NBTC announced that AWN has won 2x5 MHz of bandwidth in the 700 MHz band for a final bid price of THB 17.15 billion (VAT excluded); 100 MHz in the 2500-2600 MHz band for THB 19.56 billion; as well as 1200 MHz of 25.2-26.4 GHz spectrum for THB 5.34 billion. 

Dtac TriNet won two lots of 26 GHz frequencies, in the spectrum range of 26.8-27.0 GHz. The total bandwidth of 200 MHz had a final bid price of THB 910.4 million. 

True Move H secured spectrum in the 2600-2690 MHz range at a price of THB 17.87 billion, and 26 GHz frequencies in the bands 24.3-25.1 GHz at a price of THB 3.57 billion. The total cost of its bids is THB 21.44 billion. 

NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith said the NBTC board will approve the bid results on 19 February, and the winning bidders can obtain the licences after that. The NBTC initially planned to auction four spectrum ranges, including the 1800 MHz band. However, none of the bidders showed interest in the 1800 MHz bandwidth. Therefore, the NBTC auctioned off only three bands in its 16 February auction.


Categories:

Mobile

Companies:

CAT Telecom,  TrueMove,  DTAC,  AIS

Countries:

Thailand

Tags:

Government telecommunications licensing, Wholesale, 5G

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