AIS has to switch off its 2G service once the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission awards a 900MHz licence to one of the two companies that won the licences at auction, True Corp and Jasmine International.

NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tatasith yesterday said TUC had informed the regulator that it would pay the first instalment of the licence fee and place the bank guarantees for the remaining instalments on Friday.

Takorn said that once TUC received the licence, it wanted the NBTC to extend AIS’s existing 2G service temporarily by allowing AIS and its affiliate, Advance Wireless Network (AWN), the use of TUC’s spectrum range for three months at a cost of Bt450 million a month. TOT would also receive some of the money.

That fee is based on the Bt76.3 billion True paid for the 15-year 900MHz licence, Takorn said.

TUC sent an urgent letter to the NBTC last Friday outlining the proposal, and the regulator’s telecom committee will consider it today.

AIS said there were 8.8 million users of its 2G-900MHz service, with 8 million of them AWN customers roaming with AIS. At the end of the three-month period, TUC suggested that the NBTC allow all the 2G users to move to another operator without having to pass the mobile-number portability system.

Jas Mobile Broadband of Jasmine International won the other licence for the 900MHz spectrum but is yet to pay the first instalment of the upfront fee. The deadline for the payment is March 21.