Policymakers are being urged to allocate more spectrum for mobile to meet rising bandwidth demand and support development of new wireless services in the data-driven digital economy.
"The unused 2600- and 2300-megahertz spectra should be reallocated for wireless broadband service to serve skyrocketing mobile data traffic growth," said Camilla Vautier, president of Ericsson (Thailand).
A mobile operator in Thailand has an average of 30MHz of bandwidth, compared with an average of 60MHz for operators in Asia.
Ms Vautier said Thailand, and Bangkok in particular, was a highly advanced network society in the same mould as developed countries.
A 2015 Ericsson survey of 1,150 respondents in Thailand found that 56% had more than one internet-connected device. More than half of respondents said they were active in a social network.
Thais also spend time every day streaming video content and music, with 37% of respondents watching short video clips, 30% streaming music online and 25% watching full-length movies.
"These figures reflect consumer lifestyle shifting towards streaming video, which challenges traditional TV and cable operators," she said.
The arrival of full commercial 4G wireless broadband service is also driving the adoption of the Internet of Things and data-rich sensors and devices, Ms Vautier said.
The emerging technologies are driving bandwidth demand, which leads to growing demand for mobile-capable and intelligent networks, in turn requiring additional frequency.
"Mobile frequency provides a solid foundation to drive growth in a digital or data-driven economy," she said.
Mobility, broadband and cloud computing technologies are driving connected network societies, which change people's lives and are driving a business transformation in the healthcare, education, media, transport, banking, utility and retail sectors.
Based on Ericsson's research, Ms Vautier said the global consumer technology trend for 2016 was people becoming increasingly interconnected with others because of the proliferation of internet-connected devices and high-speed wireless broadband service.
In 2011, some 30 hours of video was uploaded to YouTube every minute. Now it is over 300 hours per minute, she said.
Artificial intelligence, enabling interaction with objects without a smartphone screen, and smart homes, where the internet enables home appliances, will become a reality, found the research.
Ms Vautier said 3.2 billion smartphone users were vulnerable to cyberattacks such as viruses and hacking. The majority of smartphone users believe a range of organisations, products and services will be hacked or become infected by a virus soon.
Ericsson's research also found that smartphone owners are increasingly acting like journalists: sharing observations, opinions and ideas and commenting on what others post online.