DES Ministry backs TOT, CAT 5G bids

The Digital Economy and Society (DES) Ministry has spurned calls by major mobile operators to omit TOT and CAT Telecom from participating in the 5G licence auctions, arguing that the two state enterprises could help leverage the spectrum ranges for public benefit.

DES Minister Buddhipongse Punnakanta said the ministry is serious about backing the two state enterprises to take part in the auctions.

"If the major private operators commit to providing free 5G service for some social purpose, I will put a brake on this policy," Mr Buddhipongse said.

Speaking at a seminar on 5G held by Nation Group yesterday, he stressed that 5G is a national agenda item geared towards optimum benefit for the economy and society.

TOT and CAT Telecom are expected to provide some innovative tech services for the public, such as those linked with healthcare and transport, Mr Buddhipongse said.

"The two enterprises do not aim to compete in this business with the major mobile operators," he said.

Auction participation by the two state enterprises would not breach the constitution, which guards against state entities competing with the private sector, Mr Buddhipongse said, as the move is done for optimum public benefit.

"If the government still had the authority to invoke Section 44, I would have asked the prime minister to keep some 5G spectrum bandwidth for the state enterprises," he said.

Speaking at the seminar, Weerawat Kiattipongthaworn, chief corporate officer of largest mobile operator Advanced Info Service (AIS), said the company disagrees with the plan that lets the two state enterprises join the auctions, as mobile operations are not their core business.

The two enterprises today provide some telecom infrastructure for private operators under partnership agreements. If in the future they are allowed to run mobile service, this will cause conflict with partners in the agreements, Mr Weerawat said.

Four spectrum ranges are to be auctioned on Feb 16: 700MHz, 1800MHz, 2600MHz and 26GHz.

The 2600MHz range is believed to be the most sought after by operators. A total of 190MHz of bandwidth on the spectrum will be up for auction.

Each operator needs at least 100MHz of bandwidth on the range for efficient service, and with only 190MHz of bandwidth available in the auction, it may be too little for 5G adoption in the market, Mr Weerawat said.

Chakkrit Urairat, deputy director for government relations at True Corporation, said that if the two state enterprises succeed in getting 5G licences, they will need to invest in network roll-outs and other operations.

"This would become a critical burden for them," Mr Chakkrit said.

In addition, the reserve prices for the four spectrum ranges are too high when compared with international benchmarks, he said.

NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith has said that only the 2600MHz and 26GHz ranges are likely to attract bidders in the February auction.