Thailand's Telecom regulator on Sunday auctioned 5g spectrum for 100.52 billion baht ($3.2 billion) and operators bought 48 licenses, which are expected to become commercially available later this year.
Thailand's largest mobile operator, advanced info service, became the biggest winner. In an auction lasting more than five hours, it took 23 licenses in all three frequency bands and became the biggest winner.
Thailand's National Broadcasting and Television Commission (NBTC) said that 5g technology, which is 100 times faster than 4G networks, would help boost the country's digital economy.
True Corporation, the country's second and third largest telecom operators, and total access communication received 17 and 2 licenses respectively.
"Thailand's 5g technology is expected to boost economic growth by at least THB 177bn this year, or 1.02% of the country's GDP," said Takorn Tantasith, NBTC secretary-general He also expects that value to double in 2021.
Takorn said the results of the auction will be officially confirmed on Wednesday.
