Thailand Prime Minister Leads National Committee to Promote 5G Development

A 26-member National 5G Committee has been formed with Thailand Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha as chairman to coordinate the 5G development and boost the digital economy in the country.

The committee is also tasked with mitigating obstacles regarding the recall of unused spectrum, from state agencies for the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), in exchange for compensation. It is expected to enhance cooperation between related agencies for 5G development support.

Deputy prime ministers Somkid Jatusripitak, Prawit Wongsuwon and Wissanu Krea-ngam serve as the deputy chairmen of the committee. The minister of finance, minister of tourism and the minister of education are also part of the committee.

The permanent secretary for the Digital Economy and Society Ministry serves as the director and secretary of the committee.

This committee is formed to promote vertical 5G development, ensuring optimum benefits of 5G adoption for the economy and end users. It will promote a clear roadmap for 5G adoption and infrastructure development by ensuring the participation of representatives from key ministries, said Thailand NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith.

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted Thailand's major telecom operators to rev up deployment of 5G technologies. The country's top mobile operators are racing to deploy 5G networks at hospitals to support doctors and medical personnel to fight the virus.

“Application of 5G to public health demonstrates how digital infrastructure can have a significant impact on people's health during a major emergency,” said Buddhipongse Punnakanta, Thailand Digital Economy and Society Minister.

The Digital Economy and Society Ministry, together with Huawei Technologies Thailand, are providing AI-assisted solutions with 5G technology to hospitals in the country with the aim of enabling output diagnosis results more efficiently through a high-speed network. Industrial organizations such as GSMA pointed out that 5G technologies are crucial in the fight against the pandemic and will be a “backbone” for the economic recovery.  It is  increasingly accepted in the industry that ICT and digital economy will be a major push as work resumes post pandemic.