Changes in Thailand’s approval requirements for telecom equipment

The regulatory body for telecommunication in Thailand is the National Broadcasting & Telecommunications Commission (NBTC). 
Approval/certification by NBTC is mandatory for any telecommunication product imported, sold, or used within the Thai market. 
The following four draft NBCT announcements concerning changes to the regulations for their Class B Type Approval of communication equipment have been out on public hearing:

1. Criteria and methods for granting permission to use frequencies for international mobile telecom in the 850 MHz, 1500 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, and 26 GHz bands 
2. International Mobile Telecom (IMT) frequency plan in the 1427-1517 MHz band
3. International Mobile Telecom (IMT) frequency plan in the bands 1920-1980/2110-2170 MHz and 2010-2025 MHz
4. Radio Frequency Plan in frequency band 2300 - 2400 MHz
 
It is noted that the only new band is 1500 MHz (band 75/n75). And when the changes are finally approved by the responsible ministry, NBTC will arrange frequency auction for several frequency bands.
The date of formal announcement of the changes is not known but is assumed to be sometime around June this year and be effective from early August.
 
Implications of the changes will be the following:
1. For products with previously issued NBTC Class B certificates, the certificates will remain valid, so no action will be required.
2. For new products, after the changes are made effective, for NBTC Class B type Approvals, test report for 4G band 75 and 5G NR band n75 will be required.

Test standard for 4G band 75 will be ETSI EN 301908-1 and -13 and for 5G band n75 will be 3GPP TS 38.101-1/2/3, ETSI TS 138101-1/2/3, or 3GPP TS 38.521-1/2/3 or ETSI TS 138521-1/2/3 
As band 75 and n75 are supplementary and will be combined with other bands, NBTC will evaluate test reports based on possible Thailand configurations e.g. Thailand 4G band paired with Thailand 5G NR band. 

For further information or assistance with certification of telecom equipment for Thailand (or other Asian countries) please contact Vanessa.Wen@nemko.com 

(This article is based on information provided by Vanessa Wen and edited by T.Sollie)

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