Thailand’s 5G licence competition kicks off

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Five mobile operators are battling it out for Thailand’s 5G spectrum ranges.

Bangkok, Thailand
Pexels / Pixabay (Image credit: Image by Pexels from Pixabay)

The battle for Thailand’s 5G spectrum has started, with leading mobile operator Advanced Info Service (AIS) and True Move H Universal Communication (TUC) said to be vying for three out of four spectrum ranges in the 5G license auction, which is scheduled for February 16.

On Tuesday, AIS, TUC, Total Access Communication (DTAC), TOT and CAT Telecom all showed up at the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission government office in Bangkok to submit the 5G bid documents.

Spectrum bidding battle

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission plans to auction off four spectra which covers 15MHz of bandwidth on the 700MHz range, 35MHz of bandwidth on 1800MHz, 190MHz of bandwidth on 2600MHz and 2700MHz of bandwidth on 26GHz.

An industry source told The Bangkok Post that AIS and TUC are both bidding on the 700MHz, 2600MHz and 26GHz ranges. Meanwhile, DTAC and TOT are said to be vying for just the 26GHz range, while CAT Telecom is said to be bidding for the 700MHz and 2600MHz ranges. The source also gave the insight that all of Thailand’s bidding operators ignored the 1800MHz range.

The bidding for the 5G licences served to clear up doubts about whether DTAC, Thailand’s third-largest mobile operator would still be in the race after its chief executive, Alexandra Reich, left the company last month. It has been speculated that DTAC only bid on the 26GHz range because 5G adoption in Thailand is still in its infancy, so the company may decide to hold back its 5G technology and wait for the 3500MHz auction instead. 

“Procedures after the submission of the license application, the Office of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission will consider the eligibility And the details and Mock Auction will be clarified on 10 and 14 February 2020, with the bidding being held on 16 February 2020,” said The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission in a statement.

Rachael Sharpe
Rachael Sharpe

Rachael is a British journalist with 17 years experience in the publishing industry. Since launching www.digitalcameraworld.com, she’s been freelancing, and working for some of the world’s best-loved websites and magazines including T3.com and TechRadar.com and has also had a book, iPad for Photographers, published. A regular contributor at 5Gradar, Rachael is following the 5G market closely. Find out more at www.rachaelsharpe.com