Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has assigned the Digital Economy and Society (DES) Ministry to work with related agencies to set up a national 5G committee to facilitate adoption.
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) submitted a letter to the prime minister last month, asking him to help establish a committee because it was critically needed.
The NBTC stated several neighbouring countries, including Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, have set up national 5G committees to accelerate ultra-fast internet adoption.
The regulator is seeking ways to shorten the process of spectrum auctions to pave the way for 5G network roll-out within the first half of 2020. The auction of 2600MHz spectrum is expected by the end of this year.
The panel would be chaired by the prime minister, as part of efforts to explore collaboration with related parties, especially the Industry and Commerce ministries, as well as those in the industry sector, which are expected to be the major adopters of 5G technology in the future.
The NBTC plans to serve as the secretariat of the committee. The DES Ministry and NBTC will work together to name committee members, which could soon be submitted to the prime minister's office, said NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith.
"This is good news, ensuring Thailand will not miss the 5G train," Mr Takorn said.
The NBTC is aware of 26 countries that are installing 5G networks, which could reach 42 by year-end, he said. The 5G networks are being developed on the 2600MHz and 3400MHz spectrum ranges.
These countries have eased all related burdens on 5G investment shouldered by mobile operators, such as inexpensive spectrum costs and relaxed payment terms, to ensure the ultra-fast internet adoption takes place quickly, said Mr Takorn.
"5G spectrum costs in those countries are low, compared with previous 4G spectrum auctions," he said.
For example, the cost of 100MHz of bandwidth on the 5G spectrum auction was only 40% of that of 20MHz of bandwidth on the 4G spectrum ranges.
Several markets offered a grace period for the payment in a bid to ease the financial burden of mobile operators investing in the 5G network.
"The NBTC wants to see network roll-out for 5G adoption beginning in the second quarter of 2020 to ensure it will not be too late," said Mr Takorn.
The NBTC plans to shorten pre-auction procedures to make sure the spectrum auctions take place one or two months earlier than previously planned.
Previously, the NBTC planned to proceed with the auction early next year for the first spectrum batch -- 2600MHz, 700MHz and 26-28GHz.
As for the second batch -- 3400-3700MHz and 1800MHz -- the auction will be held by October next year.
Mr Takorn said 2600MHz has the most focus in terms of spectrum for 5G development and its auction is expected by the end of this year.