The government plans to put a section into the draft bill covering the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) that would give the regulator greater authority in terms of spectrum reallocation.
The development is aimed at aiding the NBTC in reclaiming unused spectrum from state enterprises and reallocating — or "refarming", in industry parlance — spectra for new mobile technologies.
The move is intended to create more supply for wide bandwidth to provide 4G mobile services, apart from the existing 900- and 1800-MHz spectra, said a source who sits on the digital economy committee chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.
"The new section will give the NBTC more legal and practical authority to manage the telecom industry's spectrum efficiently," the source said.
The current Frequency Allocation Act (FAA) provides the NBTC only with authority to reclaim unused portions of frequencies from spectrum holders stipulated under the regulator's master plan.
The government has agreed with the digital economy panel's resolution to set aside other telecommunications spectra for 4G mobile phones apart from the existing 900- and 1800-MHz spectra.
Some portion of the 2300- and 2600-MHz spectra may be options.
MCOT Plc and the Public Relations Department now hold 128 MHz and 26 MHz, respectively, of the 2600-MHz spectrum.
TOT Plc, meanwhile, holds 64 MHz of the 2300-MHz spectrum, which is now unused.
The NBTC bill is expected to pass the National Legislative Assembly and take effect by September, the source said.
Jesada Sivaraks, secretary to the NBTC vice-chairman, acknowledged that the FAA gives the NBTC authority only to arrange spectra for public benefit and draft a master plan for spectrum management.
The regulator has no legal authority to refarm spectra to other agencies.
The current spectrum management master plan, in place since 2013, stipulates the NBTC has the authority to design the roadmap for more efficient use of spectra through a long process of reclaiming spectrum for reallocation.
But the FAA has no specific clause related to authority over spectrum reallocation.
Information and Communication Technology Minister Pornchai Rujiprapa supports the government's idea of inserting a section involving spectrum refarming into the draft NBTC bill.
"The government must efficiently manage the country's existing frequencies in order to serve a digital-driven economy and accommodate exploding mobile data traffic," he said.
The ICT Ministry and TOT are studying the possibility of bringing the unused 100-MHz portion of TOT's 2300-MHz spectrum up for auction in order to increase the amount of bandwidth.
In exchange for the spectrum's return, TOT may be allowed to keep the 900-MHz spectrum that Advanced Info Service has used to provide public telecom service for 10 years.