NTC sets up wimax panel

Prasit Prapinmongkolkarn, a member of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), said on Friday that the com¬mittee would complete the task with¬in three months. The licensing regulations are expected to be finished by next April.

WiMax - Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access - technology enables long-distance wireless broadband access.

Telecom operators from True Corp to TT&T and TOT are interested in applying for WiMax licences.

"The committee will consider what are the appropriate spectrum bands for WiMax use, the licensing methods and the number of licences," Prasit said.

He added that according to the global standard, the WiMax spectra included 2.4GHz, 2.5GHz, 3.5GHz, 5.7GHz and 5.8 GHz. Each WiMax operator is awarded between 20 and 40MHz of bandwidth to offer the service. However, the country's 3.5GHz spectrum has already been used for satellite service, said Prasit.The NTC granted WiMax trial permission to 14 telecom operators in April.