True Move secures CAT permission for 3G test

CAT Telecom this week will officially grant True Move permission to test a third-generation (3G) mobile broadband service, says a CAT source.

But the source added that True Move and Total Access Communication (DTAC) had to settle a problem regarding the 800-megahertz spectrum on their own.

A telecom-industry source said True Move planned to ask DTAC to allow it use of the 5MHz bandwidth of the 800MHz spectrum for three days for the January 16 launch of iPhone 3G mobile phones.

Last year, CAT and DTAC adjusted the 800MHz spectrum to create a 5MHz bandwidth for True Move to develop 3G service on. But that was more than six months ago, and DTAC has yet to transfer the bandwidth to True Move, saying it has yet to finish moving its existing analogue cellular-service subscribers from the spectrum block.

CAT owns the 800MHz spectrum, which is being used by DTAC and Hutchison-CAT Wireless Multimedia.

Telecom industrialists believe DTAC will not readily release the 5 MHz bandwidth to competitors like True Move, which desperately needs the 800MHz spectrum to launch the iPhone.

Preregistration for True Move's iPhone 3G is now available at www.truemove.com or www.weloveshopping.com. Only customers who preregister can collect their iPhone at the launch event from January 16-18 in Siam Paragon's Royal Paragon Hall.