Dtac faces probe over spectrum usage

Prasidh Prapinmongkolkarn, a member of the National Tele-

communications Commission (NTC), said the NTC was probing DTAC following an accusation by Advanced Info Service about DTAC's use of the spectrum.

A source at the NTC said DTAC could face a fine if the commission concluded that the second largest cellular operator does not optimise use of the spectrum.

CAT Telecom awarded the bulky 75 MHz bands of the 1800 MHz spectrum to DTAC. According to the conditions set by the now defunct Post and Telegraph Department, which is now part of the NTC, DTAC has to use each block out of the total four blocks of the spectrum "efficiently".

Once it fully uses the first block, it has to inform the department before it uses the next block and prove that it used it efficiently before it is allowed use of the next block.

The source said the NTC probe team had already submitted some details of the inquiry to the commission, suggesting that DTAC did in fact not use the spectrum efficiently. The NTC has asked the probe team to find clear evidence before making any decision.

DTAC chief executive Sigve Brekke said he was not worried about the case.

Brekke has always called on the NTC for overall reallocation of the frequencies to ensure that all the telecom operators get a fair allocation of the spectrums.

DTAC currently has over 18 million subscribers.