Thailand makes another bid to auction 5G spectrum
08 January 2020
NBTC said it plans to finalise the auction details next month
Thailand’s telecoms regulator the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has announced details of 5G spectrum auctions scheduled to begin in February 2020, with licences to be issued across four bands and rollouts to start in March.
The watchdog said it would auction spectrum first in the 2600MHz and 26GHz bands, and later in the 700MHz and 1800MHz bands.
Find out more Orange CEO shares supply chain fears
08 January 2020
The chief executive officer of French giant Orange warned an industry conference in the US about a “loss of trust in global supply chains” that could lead to the costly break-up of the entire market.
Stéphane Richard told the Mobile World Congress Americas show in Los Angeles that restricting access to components and products would hit the entire industry and threaten the survival of 5G as a global standard.
A major Huawei customer in several international markets, Orange is understood to have been worried that a ban on the sale of US components to the Chinese vendor could disrupt operations – although Richard did not refer to Huawei in his presentation.
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Japan’s KDDI to invest in Bangladesh
08 January 2020
Japan’s second largest telecom company, KDDI, is keen to invest in Bangladesh’s 5G network, IOT, other digital technologies and special economic zones and connectivity sectors.
A two-member KDDI delegation led by its global ICT division general manager Hiroyasu (Hiro) Morishita visited posts and telecom division minister Mustafa Jabbar at his ministry office in the secretariat in Dhaka.
The minister said under the leadership of prime minister Sheikh Hasina, the telecom and digital technology sector of the country has become a target sector for the foreign investment in the last 11 years.
Find out more Singapore to see early 5G rollout
08 January 2020
IMDA expects to announce the results by mid-2020
Singapore will increase the number of its 5G networks from two to four, encouraging competition and facilitating an early rollout in 2020.
That is according to global ratings agency Fitch Ratings, which said the decision to increase the number of licenses would intensify competition and spur product innovation, particularly in the enterprise segment.
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