Published on January 31, 2005

The national telecom regulator has established a committee to prepare an interim frequency-allocation plan to meet demand ahead of the master plan’s completion in July.

National Telecom Commission (NTC) member Sudharma Yoonaidharma said the panel, which includes three economics professors from Thammasat University, was expected to finish the interim plan in March.

“It will be our guideline for allocating frequencies to private and state agencies,” he said, adding that many agencies are awaiting frequencies to begin or extend their operations.

The NTC, however, will be unable to grant any frequencies until a master plan is completed, apart from state agencies in the event of national security or disaster. Thus the need for an interim plan, Sudharma said.

The NTC has already granted frequencies to the government to accommodate civil servants’ needs in the volatile southern provinces and for emergency responses.

Sudharma said frequencies would be awarded based on several criteria, including benefit to the public and economic factors.

An earlier Frequency Allocation Panel – dissolved when the NTC was founded – based its decisions only on engineering factors.

Sudharma said the drafting committee had discussed the inclusion in the plan of 2,000MHz frequencies, which would enable third-generation mobile phones to feature broadband cellular services.

Aiming to adopt a master plan by July, the NTC was founded in August to deregulate the telecom market and issue new frequencies and licences.

Usanee Mongkolporn

The Nation

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