NBTC rejects US push for full telecom foreign ownership

NBTC rejects US requests to let American firms fully own Thai network operators and to lock the upper 6GHz band for WiFi, the Bangkok Post reported on 9 November. Thailand's telecom regulator says both proposals clash with national law, security and its right to auction spectrum.

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) board has turned down the proposals several times over a period of months, according to commissioner AM Thanapant Raicharoen. The requests were passed to the regulator by the Commerce Ministry, which handles trade talks with Washington.

“We have consistently rejected these requests every time the Commerce Ministry sends them over to us,” AM Thanapant told the newspaper. He said the board's decisions were unanimous.

Why the NBTC rejects US ownership demands

The first proposal concerns who can own Thailand's largest telecom networks. An NBTC executive, who spoke to the Bangkok Post on condition of anonymity, said Washington had pushed for US companies to be allowed 100% shareholdings in operators holding Type 3 licences.

Type 3 licences are issued to operators that run their own large, dedicated networks. Thai law caps foreign shareholding in these licensees at 49%. Board members said full foreign ownership would conflict with the NBTC Act and weaken national security.

The 6GHz WiFi question

The second request is more technical but potentially just as valuable. The US asked Thailand to define the upper part of the 6GHz band, roughly 5.7 to 7.1GHz, as spectrum for WiFi. In the United States, WiFi already runs on several bands, including 6GHz.

In Thailand, the upper 6GHz band is still being trialled and studied. The NBTC board refused to commit, arguing that reserving it for unlicensed WiFi would limit the country's sovereign right to auction the band for commercial mobile services in future, including 5G and 6G. AM Thanapant said defining the band too early would reduce the regulator's flexibility to hold public spectrum auctions.

The distinction matters because licensed spectrum can raise large sums at auction and gives mobile operators exclusive use, while unlicensed WiFi spectrum is free for anyone to use with approved equipment. Mobile carriers are already expanding networks, as seen in our coverage of AIS 5G sea coverage along the Gulf coast.

Starlink and satellite licensing

The Bangkok Post report also touched on satellite internet. A Starlink representative had previously expressed interest in investing in and operating a low Earth orbit satellite business in Thailand, but wants to keep its usual model of a 100%-owned local company that invests in and runs all facilities.

The NBTC indicated that this would conflict with its rules and those of other agencies on foreign business. Under the current system, satellite telecom services using foreign satellites require three licences:

• a gateway licence;
• a landing right licence;
• a service licence.

All three must be held through a Thai company or a joint venture with at least 51% Thai ownership. Starlink's wider mobile ambitions were covered in our report on Starlink mobile and Qualcomm 5G.

Trade talks and diplomatic pressure

According to the anonymous executive, officials are concerned about possible diplomatic pressure linked to an expected visit by US President Donald Trump to Asia. They anticipate the Commerce Ministry may send the proposals back to the NBTC ahead of potential bilateral side talks. The source added that several of the US requirements directly conflict with existing regulations and the NBTC law, which makes them hard to accommodate.

For Thai consumers, the dispute is mainly about the longer term. It will shape who controls core networks and how the country's remaining spectrum is used. Thailand is also planning new digital infrastructure, including the international links described in our report on the Thailand submarine cable plan, so decisions on ownership and spectrum carry long-term weight.

As things stand, the NBTC rejects US proposals on both ownership and WiFi spectrum, and says it will keep protecting national spectrum assets and domestic telecom governance. Whether that position holds under trade pressure will become clearer if the requests are resubmitted.

The regulator's position was reported by the Bangkok Post on 9 November.

Photo: The NBTC radio tower in Thailand, used here to illustrate how the NBTC rejects US telecom proposals (Adirach Toumlamoon via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0).