The Thai telecom regulator needs to reduce the spectrum space designated for 2G in order to allocate more frequency for 5G development, says a leading US communication network firm. ”

“Thailand ranked second among Asean countries in terms of 5G development, behind Singapore,” said Navin Vohra, vice-president, service provider sales, Asia-Pacific, at Thai Inc.

5G technologies are taking a key role in the government’s plan to promote a competitive economy through digitisation.

But Thailand needs to speed up its overall 5G broadband framework. Singapore has already identified several suitable spectrum bands for 5G use, for example.

Singapore, South Korea and Japan have already shut down 2G services to free up spectrum and redeploy it to higher speed services like 3G, 4G and 5G.

“In Thailand, the 5G spectrum auction, originally planned for 2017, was delayed to next year, in part due to technical issues,” said Mr Vohra.

In order to stay at the front of the regional 5G development pack, Thailand will need to speed up the process of identifying suitable spectrum and its availability.

Spectrum is a valuable and limited commodity, and it is important that it be put to the most efficient use, said Mr Vohra. Only 1.4% of Thailand’s 95 million mobile subscribers are 2G subscribers. Few would be affected by efforts to allocate the space currently occupied by 2G to fuel the development of 5G.

Moreover, consumers in Thailand are becoming more connected. For example, Thais spend almost three hours a day on social media, almost twice the global average of 1.7 hours, according to Deloitte. This number is only expected to grow further as tech-savvy Generation Z comes to the fore.

Since clear frameworks for operators on spectrum choices and availability of spectrum are still being introduced in Thailand, it is difficult for operators to begin laying out plans for their 5G investments.

To transition into a 5G and Thailand 4.0 era, Thailand must develop a comprehensive and sustainable spectrum roadmap.

source: Bangkok Post