The telecom regulator says it will settle on a compensation amount by September for the 2600MHz spectrum given up by MCOT for auction.
The 2600MHz licences will come together with the 26- and 28GHz ranges under the concept of a multi-band auction held by the end of this year.
The latest move follows a resolution yesterday that the board of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) approved appointment of a subcommittee to negotiate compensation.
Takorn Tantasith, the NBTC's secretary-general, said the subcommittee comprises seven members from related state agencies, including the Attorney-General's Office, the NBTC, the Finance Ministry, the Budget Bureau, the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board and the Digital Economy and Society Ministry.
The attorney-general's representative is chairman of the subcommittee, while the representative of the NBTC is deputy secretary-general Thanapant Raicharoen.
Mr Takorn said the subcommittee will consider the valuation of the 2600MHz spectrum and compensation figures, which are now being studied by three outside institutes: Thailand Development Research Institute, Chulalongkorn University and Chiang Mai University.
"NBTC plans to auction 190MHz of bandwidth on the 2600MHz range, together with 3000MHz of bandwidth on the 26- and 28GHz range through a multi-band auction," he said.
Mr Takorn said the timeline for the auction may be late in the fourth quarter this year or early 2020, depending on the compensation negotiation with MCOT.
The 2600MHz range now is being used by state-owned broadcaster MCOT under concessions that will end in 2022. MCOT is in the process of returning unused ranges to the NBTC in exchange for compensation.
When details of the deal are completed by the subcommittee, it will be submitted to the NBTC board for approval.
Then the NBTC will propose the details to the relevant agencies that hold the spectrum for their consent.
The NBTC wants to rearrange unused spectrum to serve fifth-generation (5G) wireless broadband adoption in the country by 2020.
Recalling the 2600MHz spectrum is in line with the regulations regarding the recall and compensation regime.
The regulatory draft follows Section 27 of the amended Frequency Allocation Act put in effect in June 2018. The section rules that the regulator must recall spectrum slots, many of them held by state agencies that are not efficiently using them, for reallocation via auction.
Additionally, the new law allows the regulator to pay compensation to spectrum holders to facilitate a greater arrangement of spectrum as a national resource.
"The NBTC wants to see 5G adoption in late 2020 or early 2021, complying with the government's policy to boost competitiveness and handle change in the digital era," Mr Takorn said.