Thailand's telecoms regulator NBTC plans to release 380 MHz of additional spectrum to the industry to set the stage for 5G and accommodate burgeoning demand for mobile data and IoT services.
The regulator is aiming to auction 180 MHz of 2600-MHz spectrum this year as part of this process, the Bangkok Post reported, citing NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith.
According to the plan, this will be followed by auctions of 90 MHz of 1800-MHz spectrum and 20 MHz of 850-MHz spectrum by March 2018, then 90 MHz of 700-MHz spectrum by 2020.
While to date up to 420 MHz of bandwidth has been allocated for mobile use, Takorn said this will not be sufficient to keep pace with rapid developments in network technology and online service innovation, let alone the eventual deployment of 5G and the new use cases it will bring.
The planned auctions will bring the total bandwidth allocated for telecoms use up to 800 MHz, significantly higher than the 700 MHz recommended by the ITU, the report notes.