Tot granted spectrum

The Cabinet yesterday granted TOT sole ownership of the 1,900-megahertz spectrum, which it will deploy to launch its third-generation (3G) mobile broadband service, said Information and Communications Technology Minister Mun Patanotai.

TOT will now ask the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) for permission to transfer the spectrum from CAT Telecom and develop the 3G service.

The spectrum is owned jointly by TOT and CAT. TOT is in the process of buying CAT's rights to the spectrum and that company's shares in both of their joint ventures: 1,900MHz cellular operator Thai Mobile and network provider ACT Mobile.

Advanced Info Service (AIS) recently asked TOT to allocate 5MHz of the 1,900MHz spectrum to it so it could develop 3G service, citing the constraints of its existing 900MHz spectrum. AIS recently launched a 3G service in Chiang Mai on the 900MHz spectrum.

The 2.1-gigahertz spectrum band and the 1,900MHz spectrum are global standards for 3G service.

TOT plans to have ACT Mobile roll out the 3G network nationwide from 2009-11 at a cost of Bt29 billion. The project is expected to break even within seven years.

TOT is awaiting National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) approval of its 3G investment. The NESDB is expected to consider the case next Monday.

Mun said the Cabinet also granted approval for ACT Mobile to adjust the 3G-service tariff in accordance with market conditions, so it would not have to keep requesting Cabinet permission for an adjustment.

In the first phase, TOT will upgrade 500 existing ACT base stations in Bangkok and major provinces with 3G technology, in order to enable a launch early next year. In the second phase, TOT will install 5,220 new 3G base stations nationwide.

TOT has targeted at least 350,000 3G subscribers next year, with the number rising to 4 million by 2013.

The now-defunct Frequency Allocation Committee awarded joint ownership of the 1,900MHz spectrum to TOT and CAT in 2000 before the NTC was established more than three years ago.

The NTC is expected to award 2.1GHz spectrum licences about the middle of next year.