08 October 2024

Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (NBTC) plans to auction off spectrum in the 2100 and 2300MHz bands early in 2025 to enable telcos to upgrade to 5G-Advanced and 6G.

This comes as part of NBTC’s broader spectrum management roadmap between 2025 and 2030 to facilitate evolution to 5G-A and 6G.

While the overall roadmap covers several bands in the ranges of 3300-4000MHz and 6.425-7.125GHz, the NBTC would focus on the 2100 and 2300MHz bands first, as there is more immediate demand for it from telcos.

The 2100 and 2300MHz bands are currently held by state-owned National Telecom (NT), but its licence for both will expire in September 2025, along with its licence for 850MHz spectrum. NT had asked the NBTC for an extension, but True Corporation and Advanced Info Service (AIS) have been lobbying the commission to put the 2100 and 2300MHz bands up for auction, as they need it for 5G-A and 6G.

The new licences for the 2100 and 2300MHz bands will be good for 10-15 years.