Operators to submit 5G forms Tuesday

Operators to submit 5G forms Tuesday

Five mobile operators have informed the telecom regulator they will submit 5G spectrum auction documents on the submission date on Tuesday.

True Move H Universal Communication (TUC) plans to turn up at 11am and Advanced Info Service indicated an arrival time of 11.22am.

Total Access Communication (DTAC) plans to submit the bid documents between 11am and 1pm.

The three operators are believed to be mainly vying for the 2600-megahertz spectrum licences.

State telecom enterprises TOT and CAT Telecom plan to submit the documents before noon.

CAT is expected to bid for 700MHz and 2600MHz licences, while TOT goes for 26-gigahertz licences. The two enterprises cannot bid for the same licences because they both have the same parent -- the Finance Ministry.

Takorn Tantasith, secretary-general of National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), said he was informed about the bid document submission by the executives of the five operators yesterday.

He declined to speculate for which spectrum licences each operators would aim to bid, saying this will be known after the submission.

"We have time to check the accuracy of tonnes of related bid documents and bank guarantees, while the NBTC will announce qualified bidders on Feb 11, five days ahead of the auction scheduled for Feb 16," said Mr Takorn.

He said the NBTC expects 25 out of the 56 licences up for auction could be snapped up by mobile operators. The 25 consist of two licences on the 700MHz range, 19 licences on the 2600MHz range and four licences on the 26GHz range.

5G adoption is expected to contribute 177 billion baht or 1.02% of GDP, tallying 17.3 trillion baht projected for this year. It would rise to 332 billion baht in 2021 and 476 billion in 2022.

An executive of a mobile operator who requested anonymity said all the bidders are likely to submit documents between 11am and noon as this period is an auspicious time on Feb 4.

On Feb 16, the NBTC will auction off four spectra, covering 15MHz of bandwidth on the 700MHz range, 35MHz of bandwidth on 1800MHz, 190MHz of bandwidth on 2600MHz and 2700MHz of bandwidth on 26GHz range.

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