The chief of Thailand’s DTAC has called on the country’s newly-formed regulator to consider a proposal which the company says could stimulate progress in the telecom sector.
DTAC head Jon Eddy Abdullah is proposing returning an unused 25Mhz of its 1800Mhz frequency to the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) in exchange for a 4G license.
DTAC has 50Mhz of the 1800Mhz frequency for voice services, plus 10Mhz of the 850Mhz frequency for data. The company’s concession is due to expire 2018. The concessions of True Move and AIS subsidiary DPC are due to expire end 2013, at which point each must return 12.5Mhz of the 1800Mhz frequency to concession owner CAT.
Abdullah added DTAC’s proposal could help shift the industry from a concession model to a licensing one, as the NBTC would be able to call an auction to issue 4G licenses on the 1800Mhz band by combining DTAC’s 25Mhz with the 25Mhz from True Move and DPC.
A licensing model could resolve the problems Thailand’s industry is now facing, especially the inability for certain operators to launch 3G at a point where other countries are rolling out 4G services, Abdullah said.
DTAC has been waiting almost 3 years for a 3G license from CAT, and had earlier this year filed a suit against CAT to halt the latter’s decision to collaborate with True on CDMA and HSPA services.