Thailand’s telecoms regulator has reportedly instructed Advanced Info Service (AIS) and True Corp to submit detailed plans to shut down their 2G and 3G networks by the third quarter of 2026, ostensibly as part of an anti-fraud strategy.
According to the Bangkok Post on Tuesday, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) board wants to ditch 2G and 3G (in that order) to combat an online fraud tactic that involves setting up fake base stations to send fraudulent text messages.
The NBTC board passed a resolution earlier this year to stop the import of 2G and 3G devices and related RAN equipment for similar reasons, the report said.
However, NBTC acting secretary-general Trairat Viriyasirikul admitted to the newspaper that shutting down 2G and 3G might not get rid of the fake base station problem.
AIS and True have already been making moves to migrate their 2G and 3G users to 4G and 5G to free up spectrum for the latter, but neither have submitted a clear roadmap and timeline for doing so to the NBTC, the report added. They will now be required to do so, and their plans must meet the proposed deadline of Q3 2026.
According to the NBTC, there are fewer than 3 million active 2G and 3G SIM cards in Thailand. Figures from Datareportal (citing GSMA Intelligence) put Thailand’s total mobile subscriber base at 99.5 million. A separate report from GSMA Intelligence said 5G accounted for 26.6% of total connections as of Q2 2024.
