The telecom committee of Thailand's National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has approved draft regulation covering the recall of unused spectrum for its allocation for 5G.
The draft regulation will enable the regulator to recall spectrum slots, many of which are held by state agencies including state-owned opeator CAT and public broadcaster MCOT, and reassign them via auction, the Bangkok Post reported.
The draft also allows the regulator to pay compensation to current spectrum holders in exchange for the return of the spectrum.
Now the full NBTC board must officially approve the draft regulation. The board plans to hold a meeting on November 20 with the aim of putting the regulation into effect at the start of December.
The NBTC plans to recall and auction spectrum in at least three bands, the report states. These will include the e 2600-MHz, 1500-MHz and 2300-MHz bands.
MCOT currently holds 190MHz of spectrum in the 2600-MHz band under a concession set to expire in 2022. The company has previously agreed to return 90MHz of unused bandwidth in the band to the regulator in return for compensation.
Meanwhile CAT is using 35MHz of spectrum in the 1500-MHz band for signal transmission services.
Source: https://www.telecomasia.net/content/nbtc-panel-approves-spectrum-recall-plan