Thai regulator the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission has announced plans to auction 80 MHz of 2600-MHz spectrum earmarked for 5G by June 2017.
The regulator plans to buy back 80 MHz of unused spectrum in the band currently allocated to state-owned public broadcaster MCOT in order to auction it to operators, the Bangkok Postreported.
While the NBTC currently lacks authorization to pay compensation to state companies in return for frequencies allocated to them, the regulator hopes that the new NBTC bill, due to come into effect early next year, will provide it with the required authorization.
Accordingly, the NBTC is negotiating with MCOT over compensation, which will be paid either prior to or after the planned auction. A deal is expected to be in place by March.
The regulator is currently planning to grant at least three 2600-MHz licenses, including two 25 MHz licenses and one 30 MHz license.
With the auction the NBTC aims to fulfil requests from some operators to provide a clear spectrum roadmap towards the expected commercial standardization of 5G in 2020.
According to the report, the regulator believes the mobile industry will need nearly triple the current combined spectrum allocation of 250 MHz in order to develop effective 4G and 5G services by 2021.