1800MHz band reallocation approved in principle by telecoms committee

A plan by the National Broadcasting & Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) to reallocate 1800MHz band mobile spectrum after concession periods expire has been approved in principle by the Thai regulator’s telecoms committee. The committee is expected to form a panel to prepare an auction of the returned spectrum in 2014, following the expiry of concessions under which private operators offer 2G services, firstly True Corp’s True Move subsidiary and AIS’ DPC unit in September this year. State-owned TOT and CAT Telecom, the issuers of the original build-transfer-operate (BTO) 2G concessions, have lobbied to be automatically granted 1800MHz spectrum when rights to the frequencies expire.