The dedicated 5G band will be used to trial 5G applications in areas such as AI, IoT and big data analysis
In early October, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen stated that the government will continue prioritizing the development of 5G technology so as to secure Taiwan’s position in the global market. Now, as another step in the plan to establish Taiwan as an early adopter of 5G technology, Taiwan’s government has announced plans to release 100MHz of spectrum in the 4.8GHz to 4.9GHz band for public and private organizations to test 5G applications.
Specifically, the dedicated 5G band will be used to trial and establish applications in areas such as AI, IoT and big data analysis. Possible use cases will include smart city and environmental and weather monitoring by the public sector as well as smart health care, telemedicine, smart manufacturing and smart retail by the private sector.
This allocation will be separate from 5G spectrum provided to mobile operators for general communication services, and those interested in securing access to the 100MHz of spectrum can apply.
If approved, the interested organization will be charged for the spectrum used at a rate to be determined by Taiwan’s National Communications Commission (NCC), explained Tsai, adding that the fee rates will be close to final prices at the upcoming open auction bid for 5G bands for general commercial use.
So far, Chunghwa Telecom Co., Far EasTone Telecommunications Co., Taiwan Mobile Co., Asia Pacific Telecom Co. and HTC Corp. have applied for access to the designated spectrum.
The NCC will hold the nation’s first 5G auction today, slightly earlier than initially planned in an attempt to keep up with other countries. The auction will include the sale of bandwidth from three different frequency bands: 270MHz from the 3.5GHz mid-band spectrum, 2,500MHz from the 28GHz high-band and 20MHz from the 1,800MHz band.
NCC Commissioner Guo Wen-chung explained the that third band in being included in the 5G auction because it failed to be sold off during the country’s previous auction for 4G spectrum, and so it remains available. “In addition, it can be used as a kind of support to improve coverage. In the future, telecom operators can use the 3.5GHz band for downloading and the 1,800MHz band for uploading,” Guo added.
The 5G auctions are expected to generate more than TWD40 billion ($1.3 billion).
