07 Jan 2016
From Techno Society Magazine Vol.1/2015, the topic of discussion was Wireless communication Technology or 4th Generation and ongoing process of 4G License Auction in Thailand since 2014. In 2015, Government has created policies which will lead to the improvement of law to support and drive Digital Economy. 4G License Auction is an important part to fulfill government’s demand because at present, Digital Economy in Thailand was originated from the use of smart device such as smart phone and tablet that can be used as communication tool via wireless network. The new policy also benefited the initiation of building National Data Center. From the latest ongoing process of 4G license auction at the beginning of the year 2015, government has established 4G Auction Project and Working Committees: 1) Committee for Approval of National Broadband, aimed to make every home access to network within year 2017, 2) Committee for Approval of Data Center, building 40-50 connected Data Centers to store data lead to which will help increase efficiency and continuous working, 3) Committee for approval of commerce via Digital Media as tool, which supports Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs) to use digital media for business, 4) Committee for approval of Life - Long Learning, related to instruction media, and 5) National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (NBTC). For Frequency, the auction is divided as follows: 1800 MHz spectrum divided into 2 licenses (12.5 MHz per each license) which will be auctioned for 2 times; April – July and September – December 2015 and also 9 MHz spectrum divided to 2 licenses (10 MHz per each license) which will be scheduled into 2 times; August – September and September – October 2015. NBTC expects both frequencies to be ready in March – April 2016, with spending budget of 100 million baht and expects to gain from auction amount of 50,000 – 60,000 million baht. Although, this auction is only for 4G, the winner of the auction can select frequency (2G 3G or 4G) according to their preference. For the Building of Data Center, Preparation Committee for Digital Economy and Society has previous resolution for Building of Data Center to avoid unnecessary investment by government. (Previously, each organization invested on its own of data center which included the investment of server, network equipment, security systems, software and staff). In addition, government will establish central organization to be responsible for managing standard of servers,security and connection of data to maintain standard of quality and price, support the country with advanced technologies, and has adequate coverage for service, and serve demand in all local area in country. All data center connection can lead to capability of Big Data management in the future.
