NBTC issue final decision regarding use of partial LTE/5G NR bands

Thai Regulator National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has recently issued a final decision regarding the suspension of Type Approval applications for products supporting partial bands of LTE/5G NR Band 28 and 41.

By way of reminder, NBTC announced earlier in the year that they had received feedback advising that some WWAN user equipment supporting partial bands of LTE/5G NR band 28 and 41 had been causing inefficiency in Thai networks. NBTC consequently announced that they would be making an official decision regarding the future approval of equipment supporting partial bands of LTE/5G NR band 28 and 41.

The main frequencies impacted by the new regulation are LTE/5G NR band 28 with partial frequencies such as 718-748MHz and 773-803MHz, and LTE/5G NR band 41 with partial frequencies such as 2535-2655MHz. NBTC will no longer issue type approval for equipment operating on these bands and will only issue approvals for equipment using the full band as per NBTC Notification regarding IMT frequency plan and as per 3GPP standards. 

NBTC have not formally announced their grandfathering policy, though have verbally confirmed that previously approved product certificates with equipment using LTE/5G NR band 28 and 41 partial bands will remain valid. NBTC will not withdraw existing approval certificates for equipment using partial bands. 

NBTC have advised however that they may request that certificate holders of equipment using partial bands ensure that the equipment displays information making the user of the equipment aware that partial bands only are supported. 

No formal announcement has been released here and we will continue to monitor this to see if changes are brought into effect.