Third-ranked mobile operator True Move is spending 56 billion baht this year to launch the country's first LTE Advanced network or 4.5G to cover 97% of the population.
True Move's network will offer dual-band coverage nationwide on the 900- and 1800-megahertz spectrum, said Noppadol Dej-Udom, group chief financial officer of parent True Corporation.
True Move, through subsidiary True Move H Universal Communication, plans to install 13,500 LTE Advanced base stations on the 900MHz network to provide high-speed wireless broadband service in provinces and rural areas.
Another 3,000 to 4,000 base stations on the 1800MHz network will be added to provide service in Bangkok and major provinces.
LTE Advanced offers ultra-fast network speeds of up to 300Mbps, which is three times faster than LTE and 10 times faster than 3G, Mr Noppadol said.
Users can download an 800-megabyte movie in just 43 seconds.
Huawei Technology of China and Ericsson of Sweden are supplying the LTE Advanced network equipment and software to True Move.
He said operators needed to have at least 50 MHz of mobile bandwidth to provide LTE Advanced service.
True Move holds a combined 55MHz of bandwidth on various spectra consisting of 15MHz on the 2100MHz spectrum, 15MHz on the 850MHz spectrum, 15MHz of 1800MHz and 10MHz of the 900MHz spectrum.
The company is in talks with TOT Plc to rent the state telecom enterprise's 900MHz 2G infrastructure to add network capacity, Mr Noppadol said.
He said LTE Advanced technology serves customers who use mobile data-intensive services.
With the commercialisation of LTE Advanced, True Move expects to add other diverse mobile value-added services. The company wants to double its 4G subscribers to 4 million this year.
Col Settapong Malisuwan, vice-chairman of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, said True Move was the third mobile operator in Asean to announce a LTE Advanced launch this year, following statements in Singapore and Indonesia.
SK Telecom of South Korea was the world's first operator to offer LTE Advanced service through smartphones.
Col Settapong said the mobile ecosystem in Thailand would make a significant contribution to economic growth over the next five years, in line with anticipated global momentum.
To accommodate the rapid growth of mobile internet demand, operators need to own more spectrum resources, with both low and high bands, to provide greater efficiency and better services, he said.
"Operators with spectrum bands ranging from 900-, 1800- and 2100MHz can take advantage of the benefits of LTE Advanced technology, which is due to arrive in a big way in 2016," Col Settapong said.
A 5G mobile network is expected to be available commercially by as early as 2020, he added.