Mixed response to 3.9G licenceThe country's largest mobile operator has given a mixed response to the government's proposal for Thailand to adopt 3.9G wireless broadband technology, after five years of failure to start third-generation (3G) services.
Advanced Info Service said 3.9G was a good idea but reallocation of spectrum, as well as the readiness of equipment and handset makers, must be taken into account.
AIS chief executive Wichian Mektrakarn said the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) had shown a progressive vision by proposing to move straight to 3.9G and bypass the stillborn 3G. However, he said limited bandwidth resources may make it difficult to adopt the new technology, which offers speeds 20 times faster than 3G.
The new 3.9G licences would be for 15 Megahertz of bandwidth and would be valid for 15 years. The NTC previously planned to auction four 3G licences: three for 10MHz and one for 15MHz.
But Mr Wichian said 15 MHz would be insufficient for 3.9G services. "At least 20 MHz of carrier bandwidths are needed for each operator to support commercial data-focused traffic in reality.''
Bangkok Post"20 times faster than 3G"? And I thought I almost arrived in heaven with CDMA (3.1 Mbits).
