Cellco Total Access Communication (DTAC) is looking to give back an unused portion of spectrum in the 1800MHz band in exchange for a 4G licence, according to the Bangkok Post citing DTAC CEO Jon Eddy Abdullah.
This move is reportedly aimed at bypassing…
Cellco Total Access Communication (DTAC) is looking to give back an unused portion of spectrum in the 1800MHz band in exchange for a 4G licence, according to the Bangkok Post citing DTAC CEO Jon Eddy Abdullah.
This move is reportedly aimed at bypassing the current deadlock on the 3G situation in Thailand .
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications (NBTC) is due to replace the NTC – which is not allowed to issue 3G licences – and is currently in the process of selecting new commissioners.
Once it is officially set up and general elections have taken place in July, the 3G spectrum auction is expected to start again, possibly by the end of this year or the beginning of 2012.
In the meantime, Abdullah was quoted saying that he was seeking to go ahead with the rollout of 3G services despite state-owned CAT’s opposition.
In February, CAT, which is the issuer of DTAC’s concession, finally allowed the mobile operator to offer commercial 3G wireless broadband services, according to reports. This followed a decision in December 2010 by CAT to let DTAC upgrade its 850MHz spectrum to HSPA for 1,200 base stations to provide non-commercial 3G services.
But a few months ago, it was reported that CAT refused to enable DTAC’s 3G commercial rollout unless it agreed not to seek compensation amid the concession amendment dispute under way between state-owned and private cellcos for several years now.
