Page 120 - SAMENA Trends - August 2020
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REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES  SAMENA TRENDS

                         Taiwan  Star  and  Asia  Pacific  Telecom  (APT)  have   which will be in the country’s six largest cities. It was
                         been  awarded  5G  operating  licenses  by  the  National   also  noted  that  Taiwan  Star  is  teaming  with  another
                         Communications  Commission  (NCC),  according  to   domestic  company,  Askey  Computer  Corp,  to  set  up
                         Focus  Taiwan,  meaning  that  five  domestic  operators   small  cell  stations  with  a  view  to  providing a  better
                         now have permission to offer commercial 5G services.   quality of service by boosting the strength of its signal
        Taiwan           As  previously  reported  by  CommsUpdate,  Chunghwa   indoors.  For  its  part,  meanwhile,  APT  is  reportedly

                         Telecom, Far EasTone and Taiwan Mobile all secured   planning  to introduce  a  commercial  5G offering in
                         similar  concessions  in June  2020,  and moved to   the third quarter of this year. The operator is said to
                         commercialize  the latest  generation of  mobile   have  plans  to  launch  a  ‘5G  Land’  audio  and  video
                         broadband technology earlier this month. In the wake   entertainment platform, and has said it will work with
                         of the latest  licensing  development, the report  notes   international  partners  to provide  content  for its 5G
                         that Taiwan Star is planning to launch 5G commercially   platform and build a 5G ecosystem.
                         on 4 August, with it aiming to have 1,000 base stations   (July 30, 2020) commsupdate.com
                         up and running  by the end  of the  year – the bulk of




                         The  National  Broadcasting  and  Telecommunications   The  auction  for  the  three  700MHz  authorizations
                         Commission  (NBTC)  has  disclosed  that  the  digital   lasted 19 rounds, with the airwaves sold to AWN (one
                         terrestrial TV (DTT) signal will be disrupted for some   license) and CAT (two concessions) at THB17.15 billion
                         Thai  areas  from  September,  as  DTT  providers  start   apiece. NBTC Vice Chairman Natee Sukonrat said that
                         returning  portions  of  their  700MHz  spectrum  to  the   initial  disruptions  to  the  DTT  signal  are  expected  in
        Thailand         authority,  the  Bangkok  Post  writes.  As  previously   the Southern region from September, Bangkok and the
                         noted  by  TeleGeography’s  CommsUpdate,  the  NBTC   surrounding  areas  (from  5  October),  Northern  region
                         completed  its 5G multiband  spectrum  auction  in   (October), Northeastern region (November) and Central
                         February  this  year,  raising  around  THB100.5  billion   region (December). The 700MHz range is scheduled to
                         (USD3.2  billion)  from  the  sale  of  48  concessions  for   be used for telecoms purposes from 15 January 2021.
                         spectrum in the 700MHz, 2600MHz and 26GHz bands.   (August 24, 2020) commsupdate.com




                         UK  regulator  Ofcom  has  published  two  documents   stated the auction would cover the sale of 80MHz in
                         exploring how the use of customer data is evolving and   the  700MHz  band  and  120MHz  of  spectrum  in  the
                         to ensure that data innovation supports the interests   3.6GHz to 3.8GHz band. The UK regulator said the net
                         of  communications  customers.  A  new  discussion   result would be a nearly 20 per cent increase in mobile
        United           paper  presents  the  results of consumer  research  on   capacity following the auction, which was delayed by
                                                                        the  Covid-19  (coronavirus)  pandemic.  Ofcom’s  move
                         personalized  pricing.  It  also  outlines  Ofcom's  initial
        Kingdom          views  on  the potential implications of  this  emerging   will likely draw criticism from the country’s operators,
                         practice, to help ensure that customers are treated fairly   with both Vodafone UK and O2 UK calling for a different
                         and have transparency about how their data is used.   approach to divvying up frequencies in light of recent
                         Interested parties  can submit their views  to  Ofcom   challenges. Vodafone UK CEO Nick Jeffery told Financial
                         via e-mail at [email protected]. The   Times  it  wanted  Ofcom  to  abandon  the  auction,  and
                         second document is a consultation on a proposed new   instead distribute spectrum to the four major operators
                         initiative  called  'Open  Communications'.  This  would   in the nation for a reserve price of around £1.2 billion.
                         allow  consumers  and businesses  to share their own   He  argued  this  would  be  best  approach,  given  the
                         data with comparison  sites and other  providers to   costs it  faces to  comply with  a  government  order to
                         receive recommendations about the best products for   replace  Huawei  kit  in  its  networks  by  2027.  In  May,
                         their needs. This consultation closes on 10 November.   O2 UK threatened a legal challenge to the rules of the
                         Ofcom  aims  to publish  a  statement  summarizing   auction, stating it wanted the regulator to harmonize
                         responses  to the consultation  and outlining  how it   the lots of spectrum into contiguous blocks rather than
                         plans to proceed in 1st-half 2021.             selling them as fragmented slices. Ofcom addressed
                         (August 9, 2020) telecompaper.com              the  operators’  concerns  in  its  statement,  arguing
                                                                        auctions rather than  an  administrative  process was
                         UK  regulator  Ofcom  announced  plans  to  hold  a  5G   the best way to meet the high demand for airwaves.
                         auction  in January 2021, rejecting  calls from some   “Having examined this suggestion, we do not believe it
                         operators which had lobbied for an allocation process   would meet our duty to secure optimal use of the UK’s
                         rather  than  a  traditional  sale.  In  a  statement,  Ofcom   spectrum”. (August 3, 2020) mobileworldlive.com



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