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Bangkok Post
03-07-2025
- Business
- Bangkok Post
Call for changes to make Thailand a major digital nation
Strategic spectrum allocation with reasonable pricing, the fostering of innovation, and the promotion of telecom competition are crucial for Thailand to become a prominent "digital nation" in Southeast Asia, according to the GSM Association (GSMA). The association said the country should also build a strong national 5G brand and prioritise digital inclusion. The GSMA is a global organisation representing mobile operators and organisations across the mobile ecosystem and adjacent industries. Thailand has become a "quiet achiever" in 5G, Julian Gorman, GSMA's head of Asia-Pacific, told the Bangkok Post, noting the country's leadership in the region alongside Singapore, which are deemed to be the two most experienced 5G nations within the region's footprint. Mr Gorman said that to sustain and enhance its leadership position, Thailand should focus on optimising spectrum management and make the 3.5-GHz spectrum available to foster significant innovation. Moreover, it should set a reasonable spectrum pricing, treating it as if a government were investing in a digital nation, rather than focusing on selling spectrum assets at the highest price. High spectrum prices are not conducive to the collaborative building of a strong digital nation, he added. Lessons from Vietnam and India show that significantly reducing spectrum prices, along with offering incentives such as rebates for the network rollout exceeding the obligations, can accelerate 5G deployment and adoption. Vietnam launched 5G last October and its government announced over the past two months that it would rebate 15% of network rollout costs for those who can go beyond licence obligations in terms of network rollout, said Mr Gorman. This is an incentive for operators to move beyond their minimum commitments to creating a national 5G network to power the economy. In addition, policymakers need to ensure sufficient spectrum allocation. The GSMA recommends 80-100 MHz per operator for the mid-band spectrums. The government should ensure this amount is available to avoid scarcity and drive competition and connectivity. Meanwhile, a clear roadmap for future spectrum availability is essential to cater to increasing data demands. While the manufacturing sector globally accounts for approximately 40% of the 5G benefits, significant opportunities are also being explored in Thailand's tourism and services sectors. The broader Asia-Pacific mobile economy, excluding China, is projected to be worth about US$1 trillion by the end of this decade, with 5G alone contributing an estimated $130 billion of that value. In an unfavourable economy, costs are a major hurdle for 5G adoption. "Innovation can adjust the perception of cost, making smartphones and digital services more appealing by increasing their value proposition," Mr Gorman said. The government can act as an "anchor tenant" by digitising its services, making it cheaper and easier for citizens, especially those at the bottom of the pyramid, to engage via smartphones, thereby increasing the value of the phones. While 5G adoption is important, it's equally critical to close the usage gap by ensuring everyone is connected and encouraging users of older technologies to migrate to newer ones. STRONG 5G NATIONAL BRAND Despite being a "quiet achiever" in 5G, Thailand needs to be "a bit louder" about its vision and achievements to attract more foreign direct investment, innovation and startups, Mr Gorman said. A strong 5G national brand, akin to how Thailand promoted its tourism globally, could significantly elevate its international recognition, he added. Moreover, the country has a big role to play in guiding Asean's digital transformation through initiatives such as spectrum harmonisation which ensures common frequencies and timelines, enabling a "rising tide lifts all boats" scenario that benefits the entire region through efficient technology rollout and economies of investment. Mr Gorman said that while Thailand currently operates with two main mobile network players, a number "below the average in the region", the emphasis for continued innovation should be on fostering competition at the front line of services, rather than solely on infrastructure numbers. A robust regulatory framework and policy that encourages innovation and invites investment is critical. This involves reducing the cost and complexity of launching new businesses and potentially offering incentives for specific types of innovation to invigorate the 5G ecosystem. AI FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH Mr Gorman said the widespread availability of AI in people's pockets has democratised its use, enabling everyone to easily "do something with AI". Governments nurturing the AI ecosystem and innovation can unleash a new ecosystem of innovation and use cases. AI plays a crucial role for telecom operators by making customer care "very personal", improving the efficiency of business operations, and making networks smarter. Mr Gorman said that "AI for networks" uses AI to optimise resource allocation and predict and repair faults, making networks faster and more efficient. Conversely, "Networks for AI" ensures networks are smart enough to handle the changing traffic profiles driven by AI use cases, which often involve more data uploads to the cloud. This synergy supports the monetisation of new use cases for operators. Mr Gorman said Thailand is at the leading edge of GSMA's Open Gateway API (application programming interface) program, such as APIs like SIM swap alerts, and particularly the scam signal API that demonstrates a 90% effective rate in identifying potential scam victims in the UK.
Time of India
28-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
6GHz delicensing: India needs to assume ‘statesman role' for 5G, 6G spectrum, says GSMA
NEW DELHI: As Indian telecom carriers suffer a setback arising from the Centre's decision to delicense the lower 6GHz for Wi-Fi , the telco association GSMA said India needs to take a 'statesman role' in framing a spectrum strategy for its 5G expansion and sixth-generation (6G) technology development needs. 'We acknowledge India's suggestion to allocate (lower 6GHz for Wi-Fi). It is important to ensure that India takes a global position, and with the rapid growth of 5G in India, enough spectrum must be allocated. We encourage ensuring a firm and structured roadmap for mobile technology going forward,' Julian Gorman, head of Asia Pacific at GSMA, told ETTelecom in an interview. The Central government has recently notified draft rules to delicense the lower 6GHz, between 5925-6425MHz, for Wi-Fi, dealing a significant blow to the country's incumbent telecom carriers that had been lobbying with the government to identify and auction airwaves in this entire mid-band to address a spectrum shortfall for expanding 5G services, and to meet the demands for 6G in the future. The technology companies, represented by the Broadband India Forum (BIF), had urged the Ministry of Communications to reconsider its decision to auction the 6GHz band to telecom carriers, arguing that delays in delicensing these airwaves are causing an annual loss of ₹12.7 lakh crore to the government's exchequer. The entire 6GHz band has 1,200MHz spectrum between 5925-7125MHz. 'As we are leading up to WRC-27 (World Radiocommunication Conference-2027) and for India to lead in 6G, it is important that the regulators take a global statesman role,' the top executive said. Union telecom minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday said that 6GHz-driven Wi-Fi technologies, including Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7, will fuel innovation in the country, adding that the benefits of broadband internet will also reach rural villages and hamlets. 'We have just delicensed 500 MHz in our 6 GHz spectrum, and this will roll out these new, next generation technologies like Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7, which will result in higher speeds, ultra-low-latency, and seamless capacity,' the union minister said. 'With this technology, offices will no longer remain the hub of innovation. Our homes, each individual home, each rural hamlet, will become the hub of innovation in the days to come.' Over 84 countries, including the US, UK and South Korea, among others, have already delicensed the 6 GHz band for WiFi services. In India, Wi-Fi is currently provided using the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, which, according to experts, suffer from congestion and low bandwidth challenges and cannot adequately support the rapidly scaling IoT and smart devices ecosystem. Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 can theoretically offer peak bandwidth speeds of up to 9.6Gbps, compared to 1.2Gbps provided by today's Wi-Fi technologies. Gorman, however, said that the 6GHz-compliant device ecosystem is still evolving, adding that China has allocated this entire mid-band for mobile services. 'It's a strong ecosystem to be a part of,' he said. According to GSMA, private networks are one of the major applications dependent on the 26GHz airwaves – commonly referred to as mmWave spectrum. 'Private networks are one of the fastest-growing areas of network deployment. So I think we'll start to see more and more development,' Gorman said.
