Page 103 - SAMENA Trends - February-March 2021

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Thailand May Extend 5G License Payment Deadline

A national 5G committee in Thailand ongoing pandemic. Operators registered concessions have 10 years to pay back
has asked regulator NBTC (National declines across Q4 2020, with market the fees, but 26GHz license holders are
Broadcasting and Telecommunications leader AIS seeing its revenue fall, second required to pay in full within just one year of
Commission) to grant the country’s placed True Move making a loss, and dtac receiving the permit. In 2018, the regulator
operators various relief measures, experiencing a drop in profit. Between advocated extended the payment period
including an extension of their license them, these three operators - together with for AIS and True Move’s 4G licenses, but
payment deadlines. As reported by Bangkok state-backed firms CAT Telecom and TOT this plan was shelved following negative
Post, the committee - chaired by Prime – spent a total of THB100.5 billion ($3.3 feedback. The NBTC has been asked to
Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha - has ordered million) on 2,805MHz of spectrum across propose further measures to aid the sector
the regulator to consider a suite of relief the 700MHz, 2600MHz and 26GHz bands at the committee’s next meeting, to be held
measures for the telecoms sector, which during the auctions held in February 2020. on an unconfirmed date in April.
is weathering the financial impact of the Winners of the 700MHz and 2600MHz

Senate Grants DITO 25-Year Franchise

The Philippines’ Senate committee on public services yesterday
(10 March) approved the issuance of a new 25-year operating
franchise to the country’s new third telco, DITO Telecommunity
Corp. Local press reports confirm the granting comes in the wake
of the newcomer having successfully passed its recent technical
audit by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).
The company’s original franchise – issued under its former
name, Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company (Mislatel) – is due
to expire on April 2023, but the Senate committee noted that
having made good on rollout requirements to supply minimum
27Mbps mobile internet to at least 37% of the population in year
one, it had granted the application. The telco currently has 1,602
operational cell sites in the Philippines and launched 4G and 5G
services in 15 areas on 8 March.

GSMA Calls for Stronger EC Stance on Network Costs

Industry association the GSMA urged the European Commission BCRD consultation. On releasing its draft measures in December
(EC) to expand the scope of a draft directive on cutting the cost of 2020, the EC noted it aimed to ease and “incentivize the rollout of
deploying broadband networks by increasing the focus on issues high-speed electronic communications networks by lowering the
hampering mobile operators. In its response to the EC’s public costs of deployment with a set of harmonized measures”.
consultation on the Broadband Cost Reduction Directive (BCRD),
the association noted to increase the policy’s effectiveness
it should put stronger emphasis on reducing fees and red tape
related to deploying mobile networks. It added “increased costs
of compliance and deployment result in worse consumer and
socioeconomic outcomes,” pointing to a need to introduce
consistent policies across European Union member states to
meet connectivity goals. Among the GSMA’s suggestions was to
improve and expand access to existing infrastructure owned by
public or private bodies; simplify planning permission procedures;
streamline and harmonize rules across the region; and adopt an
“ambitious pro-investment approach”. It also called for the rules
to encourage co-investment in projects such as edge cloud
initiatives and mobile network sharing, on both cost saving and
environmental grounds. The deadline for responses to the EC’s
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