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  • Thailand’s NBTC Unveils Plan to Provide Free Spectrum for Private 5G Networks in Factories

    Thailand’s NBTC Unveils Plan to Provide Free Spectrum for Private 5G Networks in Factories

    The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) of Thailand is stepping up its game in the race towards Thailand 4.0 by announcing a groundbreaking allocation of free spectrum aimed at factories and enterprises. This initiative is set to supercharge the country’s ambitions for technological advancement within its manufacturing sector.

    Free Spectrum for Enhanced Operations

    In a bold move, the NBTC plans to release 100 MHz of bandwidth in the 4,800 MHz band under a private network operator (PNO) license. This means that factories and enterprises can apply for allocation at no cost, so long as they utilize it to enhance their internal operations—a win-win for industry players eager to innovate.

    Boosting Industrial Capabilities through Collaboration

    NBTC Commissioner Somphop Purivigraipong detailed the vision behind this initiative, emphasizing that the allocation is tailored for factories looking to optimize their operations. “Factories can collaborate with equipment vendors or telecom companies to deploy solutions for 5G private network operations,” he noted, heralding a new era of connectivity and automation within Thailand’s industrial landscape.

    A Push Towards Private 5G Adoption

    This forward-thinking initiative is expected to catalyze the adoption of private 5G networks throughout Thailand’s manufacturing and enterprise sectors, paving the way for enhanced automation, operational efficiency, and comprehensive digital transformation. Imagine a bustling factory floor where every machine is interlinked, sharing data in real time—those visions are closer to reality than ever before.

    A Competitive Bidding Process

    While the free allocation caters to non-profit operations, enterprises eyeing the potential of private 5G for commercial purposes will still need to bid at auction for access to the 4,800 MHz band. Telecom operators can join in if they intend to function as PNOs; however, there are crucial stipulations—the licensees won’t be allowed to offer consumer mobile services or link the band with existing 2,600 MHz services. This strategic limitation underscores the NBTC’s commitment to fostering dedicated private networks.

    Unlocking Advanced Applications

    Despite limited mass-market 5G usage across Thailand—primarily leveraged for video streaming and as an add-on to 4G—there’s still a strong belief within the NBTC that private 5G networks hold the key to unlocking advanced applications like industrial IoT (IIoT), robotics, and real-time analytics. By granting spectrum access, the NBTC aims to not just elevate Thailand’s manufacturing game but to position the country as a frontrunner in industrial 5G adoption in Asia.

    Questions & Answers

    What is the purpose of the 4,800 MHz spectrum allocation?
    The 4,800 MHz spectrum allocation is primarily aimed at assisting factories and enterprises in optimizing their internal operations through the deployment of private 5G networks.

    How does this initiative support Thailand’s industrial ambitions?
    By granting free spectrum access, the NBTC hopes to drive the adoption of private 5G technology, enhancing automation, efficiency, and digital transformation across the country’s manufacturing sector.

    What are the restrictions placed on the use of the allocated spectrum?
    Enterprises that wish to use the spectrum for commercial purposes must bid at auction, and telecom operators cannot provide consumer mobile services or integrate it with existing 2,600 MHz services, ensuring a focused approach to private network development.

  • NBTC finalizes terms of 700-MHz auction

    NBTC finalizes terms of 700-MHz auction

    Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission has finalized the proposed terms of next month’s 700-MHz auction, and has briefed the prime minister on the progress with the sale.

    The regulator plans to commence the sale of three slots of 700-MHz spectrum on June 19,.

    The three slots will each have a base price of 17.584 billion baht ($555.05 billion) for 10MHz of bandwidth, which can be payable in up to 10 installments.

    Last month the NBTC announced relief measures for the three owners of 900-MHz licenses by agreeing to split the license fees into 10 installments instead of the current four. But a condition of taking advantage of the larger number of installments will be purchasing one of the 700-MHz slots.

    According to the report, the three 900-MHz license holders – AIS, TrueMove and dtac – have expressed an interest in taking advantage of the relief measures, but are waiting on more terms of the 700-MHz allocation before making a decision.

    But True Move has previously indicated it does not plan to take part in the 700-MHz auction, although it has been pushing for an extension on its 900-MHz license payments.

    Proceeds from the sale will be used to compensate six digital TV broadcasters which have agreed to return their licenses to the regulator.

    A public hearing on the draft terms of the 700-MHz allocation will be held next week.

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  • Thailand delays 700-MHz auction

    Thailand delays 700-MHz auction

    Thai telecom regulator NBTC has postponed plans to hold a 700-MHz auction for at least three months due to delays establishing details of the auction terms.

    The regulator no longer expects to be able to hold the 700-MHz auction in May as originally planned, citing comments from the NBTC’s secretary-general.

    Instead the earliest timeline for the auction date may be August or September, as related conditions of the auction, including the reserve price, will not be concluded until May.

    Other terms which still need to be established including the process for recalling 700-MHz spectrum to be auctioned and the compensation regime for companies affected by the recall. The regulator needs at least three months to complete related procedures.

    According to the report, the delay is also aimed at giving operators more time to arrange bank guarantees.

    The NBTC plans to push on with the auction regardless of the official outcome 2019 Thai general elections –  Thailand’s first general election since the 2014 coup – which was held on Sunday.

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  • True Move told to consider compensation over data leak

    True Move told to consider compensation over data leak

    Thai telecoms regulator NBTC has instructed mobile operator True Move H to assess the impact of its recent personal data leak and offer compensation to any affected customers.

    The regulator also plans to conduct a formal investigation into the incident and consider imposing punishments, and issue a letter demanding that mobile operators take appropriate steps to prevent similar breaches in the future.

    A security researcher recently revealed that the identity documents of up to 45,736 customers of True subsidiary iTrueMart had been exposed by being stored in a publicly-accessible Amazon S3 data bucket. The company also took more than a month to finally make the cache of files private.

    Researcher Niall Merrigan discovered the cache by scanning certificate transparency logs created when someone creates a new security certificate.

    Yet True Move H and parent True Corp are continuing to characterize the action as a data breach. A True Corp executive told that the company is considering taking legal action for hacking the data from the system, stating that he used “special tools to access data which he has no right to get into.”

    But a cloud expert noted that because the default setting for the AWS S3 service is private, True had to have intentionally set the data to public.

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  • NBTC backs down on financial relief for AIS, True

    NBTC backs down on financial relief for AIS, True

    Thai telecoms regulator NBTC has backed down on its recommendation of providing financial relief for mobile operators AIS and TrueMove in the face of criticism from academia and the public sector.

    The regulator will no longer support a plan to provide relief from the operators’ 900-MHz license payment obligations.

    The ultimate decision will be down to the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) and the government, but the NBTC will not oppose a plan that would ease the financial burden of digital TV operators but leave 900-MHz license winners out.

    AIS and TrueMove both petitioned the NCPO in September requesting assistance in easing their license payment terms. The NBTC had drawn up a proposal to grant five year extensions for the payments of the final 900-MHz license payments, but the proposal was controversial.

    TrueMove noted that the winning prices of the 2015 900-MHz spectrum auction were six times higher than the reserve price and the highest in APAC, and has warned that without financial relief the company will have limited capital for investment in services including 5G and the IoT. The company could also be hampered in its participation in the upcoming 1800-MHz auction.

    AIS has likewise argued that relaxing the 900-MHz payment scheme would allow the company to invest in expanding and upgrading its mobile network, benefiting consumers.

  • NBTC reverses decision on 1800-MHz spectrum split

    NBTC reverses decision on 1800-MHz spectrum split

    Thai regulator NBTC has reversed a decision to split the 1800-MHz spectrum due to be reallocated in a spectrum auction into nine 10 MHz blocks.

    The regulator plans to revert to the plan to instead auction the spectrum in three 30 MHz lots.

    The about face was motivated by complaints from operators that the decision to carve the spectrum into 10 MHz blocks would hurt their long term business strategies, and to bring the upcoming auction in line with the two previous 1800-MHz auctions in 2015.

    Meanwhile JAS Mobile Broadband has been banned from participating in the planned auction after it defaulted on its first license payment in 2016.

    The 1800-MHz spectrum due to be allocated in the auction is currently used by private operator Dtac as part of its old concession agreement with state-owned CAT Telecom. But this concession is set to expire at the end of September, before the auction is planned, potentially leaving Dtac without the required spectrum to maintain service continuity for customers.

    Dtac has insisted that there will be no disruption, but the operator is facing a profit hit as a result of the decision. One option would require Dtac to operate using remedy measures, which would require it to transfer all earnings after expenses to the government as a result of being able to continue operating without a license for the required spectrum.

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  • Experts concerned over NBTC’s plan to control OTTs

    Experts concerned over NBTC’s plan to control OTTs

    Thai regulator NBTC could be on shaky legal ground with its plan to control overseas OTT service providers by requiring them to set up local entities, legal experts have warned.

    Lawyers stating that if the NBTC goes ahead with the plan, Thailand would be the first country to require OTT providers to set up local entities to make them easier to regulate.

    A key challenge in regulating OTT services is that the internet is borderless and service providers can set up entities anywhere in the world, the experts added. The NBTC lacks the jurisdiction to force foreign players to set up local entities.

    Such a move would also raise concerns over extra-territorial jurisdiction and international free trade arrangements.

    The time-consuming requirements for establishing a local entity could also discourage foreign players from entering the market, the report adds.

    The Thai government aims to level the playing field between operators and international OTT communications service providers. In April, the NBTC floated a plan to require OTT providers that utilize existing mobile networks to secure an operating license and pay internet bandwidth fees or value-added taxes to operate in the country.

  • NBTC may require OTTs to secure licenses

    NBTC may require OTTs to secure licenses

    Thai telecoms regulator NBTC is considering requiring OTT communications service providers to secure an operating license and an internet bandwidth fee to ensure a more level playing field between OTT players and telecoms operators.

    NBTC secretary general Takorn Tantasith told that a fee could be imposed on OTT services by 2018.

    Initially OTT services running over mobile networks could also be expected to secure an operating license from the NBTC and pay a value-added tax the same as traditional businesses, he said.

    He said the regulator is making the move to reflect the dramatic increases in revenues generated by OTT providers and the strain demand for services such as YouTube places on mobile networks and accordingly operator revenues.

    The NBTC plans to hold an open forum to discuss the issue in Bangkok in September, and will invite representatives from all telecoms regulators in the Asean region, as well as 50 operators across the region and the major OTT service providers.

    The NBTC’s decision was motivated by a meeting of the Asean Telecommunication Regulators’ Council focused on the challenges OTT services pose to business ecosystems.

  • NBTC likely to postpone 5G auction

    NBTC likely to postpone 5G auction

    Thai regulator NBTC is likely to have to postpone the planned 2600-MHz 5G auction until 2018 due to regulatory and administrative hurdles.

    The regulator had planned to hold the 2600-MHz auction in September this year, but this process will probably need to be delayed, an NBTC commissioner told.

    Factors behind the delay include the fact that 190MHz of 2600-MHz spectrum has been allocated to state broadcaster MCOT and is currently unused.

    MCOT expects compensation for the return of 80MHz of spectrum for the auction, but the NBTC is currently not authorized to pay compensation to state agencies in return for spectrum.

    The new draft bill restructuring the NBTC is expected to give the regulator the power to do so, but the process of arranging compensation and drawing up the framework for these payments will take time. The new bill has yet to identify methodologies for calculating compensation.

    The NBTC restructuring is also likely to create its own issues that will impact the auction process due to the transition to new commissioners expected after the bill takes effect.

    Meanwhile Thailand still lacks a clear spectrum roadmap for the evolution to 5G will inevitably cause a delay in Thailand’s 5G ecosystem development.

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  • Thailand’s first 5G demo achieved 5.7Gbps speeds

    Thailand’s first 5G demo achieved 5.7Gbps speeds

    The first live 5G end-to-end demonstration in Thailand using Ericsson’s 5G test bed and 5G-ready core achieved 5.7Gbps throughput and 3 milliseconds latency.

    The three-day showcase was held in late January, and Ericsson said the demonstration marks a step towards realizing the Thai government’s vision of a Digital Thailand.

    “We expect to have broadband connectivity everywhere in Thailand, both big cities and over 75,000 villages nationwide by 2018,” commented Takorn Tantasith, secretary general of regulator NBTC.

    “Along with the fixed internet deployment, we plan to release more spectrum bandwidth of 380 MHz by 2020, which will add to the existing 420 MHz already allocated to the telecommunications industry.”

    Nadine Allen, Head of Ericsson Thailand, disclosed that according to Ericsson’s Digital Thailand report, Thai consumers are ahead of, or on par with, global peers when it comes to embracing ICT and they are ready for the Internet of Things.

    She said the multi-gigabit speeds afforded by 5G will ensure that the technology is a viable and cost-effective alternative to residential fiber connections.

    Other technology innovations presented in the showcase include advancements in Radio Network Evolution, Industrialized Cloud, Connected Industries, and Digital Business Solutions.

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  • NBTC plans to allocate 380 MHz more mobile spectrum

    NBTC plans to allocate 380 MHz more mobile spectrum

    Thailand’s telecoms regulator NBTC plans to release 380 MHz of additional spectrum to the industry to set the stage for 5G and accommodate burgeoning demand for mobile data and IoT services.

    The regulator is aiming to auction 180 MHz of 2600-MHz spectrum this year as part of this process, citing NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith.

    According to the plan, this will be followed by auctions of 90 MHz of 1800-MHz spectrum and 20 MHz of 850-MHz spectrum by March 2018, then 90 MHz of 700-MHz spectrum by 2020.

    While to date up to 420 MHz of bandwidth has been allocated for mobile use, Takorn said this will not be sufficient to keep pace with rapid developments in network technology and online service innovation, let alone the eventual deployment of 5G and the new use cases it will bring.

    The planned auctions will bring the total bandwidth allocated for telecoms use up to 800 MHz, significantly higher than the 700 MHz recommended by the ITU, the report notes.

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  • Thai NBTC to relax per-second 4G billing condition

    Thai NBTC to relax per-second 4G billing condition

    Thailand’s telecoms regulator has relaxed an earlier directive requiring per-second billing for 4G services to only require operators to bill half of a service on a per-second basis.

    The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission’s (NBTC) telecoms committee has decided to change the directive to no longer require operators to charge entirely on a per-second basis.

    Although the initial per-second requirement was introduced May last year, the NBTC has yet to enforce it because it has proven unpopular with affected operators.

    Operators have been resisting the move to per-second billing on the grounds that it would unfairly penalize customers that have signed up to fixed allocation or unlimited call or data plans, stating that charging per second would cost heavy usage customers more than the bucket plans.

    The NBTC requirements would cap 4G tariff rates at 1.13 satang ($0.0003) per second. The requirements were a condition of the 4G mobile broadband licenses issued to AIS and TrueMove last year. Second-ranked Dtac is not required to comply.

    AIS has reportedly warned that the company would have to abolish their existing tariff plans if the directive is enforced, while True Move is appealing the directive in court.

  • NBTC to auction Dtac’s 1800-MHz spectrum early

    NBTC to auction Dtac’s 1800-MHz spectrum early

    Thai telecoms regulator NBTC plans to hold an auction for Dtac’s 1800-MHz spectrum in July 2018, three months before the operator’s concession expires.

    The auction of 45MHz of 1800-MHz bandwidth is expected to raise at least 135 billion baht ($3.89 billion) in revenue for the state, citing NBTC secretary general Takorn Tantasith.

    Dtac is using the spectrum under a concession arrangement with CAT Telecom. This concession is due to expire in September 2018 under the new licensing regime.

    The reserve price for the auction will be based on the winning prices of the previous 1800-MHz auctions in 2015, factoring in inflation. Takorn told the Postthat the winning prices must not be lower than the 2015 auction of two 15MHz 1800-MHz licenses.

    While Dtac CEO called it a good sign that the regulator plans an early auction, he said a lead time of three months is not enough time for a network installation. In other countries spectrum must be auctioned at least 1-2 years before a license expires.

    Dtac itself has the most invested in winning the 2018 license, the report notes. If the operator fails to reacquire the spectrum, it will be left with only 15MHz of 2100-MHz spectrum to serve over 25 million subscribers.

  • NBTC to sue TrueMove, AIS for profit owed

    NBTC to sue TrueMove, AIS for profit owed

    Thailand’s telecoms regulator is in a race against time to sue TrueMove and AIS for profit owed during the final days of the 2G concession.

    The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission telecoms sub-board has recommended the full board sue TrueMove and DPC (an AIS subsidiary) for $30.6 million (1069.98 million baht) and $17.9 million (627.64 million baht) for all profit during the so-called consumer protection phase of their 2G concessions.

    The non-extendable concessions expired in 2013 but were extended to protect consumers until March this year, under the condition that all profit be returned to the state, not just the 30% revenue share under concession terms.

    Previously the NBTC had decided only to sue TrueMove, but because of a fear that they may be viewed as biased, the board this week issued a new recommendation to the full board to sue both True and DPC (AIS).

    The lawsuit must be filed before September 18 as it is when the statute of limitations expires.

    Elsewhere the NBTC is to set up a committee to investigate a data breach by AIS which involved an AIS employee leaking customer information and call logs. The matter made a big splash on social media earlier this week and AIS responded by firing their staff responsible.

    However, NBTC Secretary-General Takorn Tantasit said that AIS might face a maximum penalty of cancellation of its license due to the breach, and executives may be jailed up to two years.

    The committee will convene for the first time on 19 September.

    Elsewhere as expected, Thailand has transformed its ICT Ministry into the new Digital Ministry for Society and Economy.

    The DMSE act also sets up what is colloquially called the Digital Economy Commission, though now formally it is, strictly translated, the Office of the Digital Commission for Society and the Economy which will be chaired by the Prime Minister.

    A number of bureaus that used report to the ICT Ministry’s Permanent Secretary are now to report to the DE Commission – Space Affairs Bureau, ICT Promotion Bureau, e-Government Promotion Bureau and ICT Industry Promotion Bureau.

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  • Banks, NBTC agree on 5 step m-banking security plan

    Banks, NBTC agree on 5 step m-banking security plan

    The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission hosted a meeting with representatives from the Bank of Thailand, the Thai Bankers Association and the Telecommunications Association of Thailand.

    The participants have agreed on a five-step plan to tighten KYC rules to increase confidence in eBanking and mobile banking in the run up to the launch of Thailand’s Promptpay national mobile payments system.

    1. The NBTC, BOT, TCT and mobile operators will create a set of KYC rules. The NBTC will order telcos to follow them strictly and will evaluate compliance with the new rules.
    2. Banks and mobile operators will launch an awareness campaign for people to tell their banks when their mobile phone or SIM is lost.
    3. If it can be proven that the customer has told their bank that their SIM has been lost, they will not be held responsible for monetary losses.
    4. A system will be set up for banks to be notified automatically when new SIMs are issued. Until such a system is in place, banks will give telcos a watchlist of telephone numbers that are linked to Internet banking, mobile banking or Promptpay accounts for their special attention.
    5. Issuing new SIM cards for accounts linked to bank accounts can only be done in person by the account holder and not via proxy.

    Meanwhile, NBTC Secretary General Takorn Tantasit has banned the import of all Galaxy Note 7 phones due to their exploding batteries. Phones from affected batches are immediately banned from being imported and the import of new note 7 batches can only resume once Samsung provides the NBTC with satisfactory electrical and safety test results.

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