Page 120 - SAMENA Trends - August 2020

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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