Mobile operator Advanced Info Service (AIS) has been chosen by National Telecom (NT) to be its 700-megahertz spectrum business partner, with an agreement expected to be signed in August this year.
According to sources close to NT’s board, AIS will obtain 10MHz of bandwidth on the 700MHz spectrum from NT, accounting for half of the total bandwidth on the range held by the telecom regulator. The move is expected to relieve the NT’s financial burden as it seeks to effectively utilize the remaining spectrum range.
National Telecom Public Company Limited (NT) was established through the merger of state telecom enterprises CAT Telecom and TOT. The state-owned company owned the 20MHz of bandwidth on the 700MHz spectrum range valued at 34 billion baht that CAT Telecom won in an auction in 2020. The bidding winner has to pay in ten installments with 10% of the bid price each time, with NT already paying two installments worth 7.2 billion baht for its bandwidth.
It is said that the remaining installments for the use of 10MHZ bandwidth will be paid for by AIS under the terms of the agreement. Meanwhile, NT will rent AIS’s mobile network and related equipment in order to provide 5G services on the remaining 10MHz of the spectrum until the license expires.
With this agreement, AIS will be able to increase the size of its bandwidth to 40Mhz, ensuring the company’s market competitiveness. True and Total Access Communication (DTAC), AIS’s competitors, will have a combined 40MHz bandwidth on the 700MHz spectrum range after their upcoming merger as well. (NNT)
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