Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has approved the auction of four spectrum bands for provision of 5G services on the local market. The Commission will auction 5G spectrum in the 700 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2600 MHz and 26 GHz frequency bands in 2020, local newspaper The Nation reports. The NBTC plans to auction a single band at a time on 16 February next year.
According to NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith, these licences will be granted to auction winners at end-February, and network deployment can start in March 2020. Thailand expects to launch its 5G service in June or July next year.
The NBTC earlier proposed the removal of the 700 MHz frequency band from the 5G spectrum auction scheduled for February 2020, reducing the number of ranges to just three. The 700MHz spectrum is currently being used by broadcasting network (MUX) providers.
