Thai state broadcaster MCOT was given a reprieve on keeping its 2.6GHz spectrum after the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) overturned a decision by its broadcasting panel to withdraw the airwaves.

The state-run firm awarded a contract to International Engineering Plc (IEC) to provide mobile TV on the spectrum. But an NBTC panel last year said the contract violated the country’s frequency allocation act, as the band was reserved for telecoms services, and ordered MCOT to return the spectrum.

The NBTC board this week determined that MCOT had the right to use the frequency, the Bangkok Post reported. The agreement with IEC is a private contract, not a build-operate-transfer concession.

If the spectrum had been withdrawn and put up for auction, the NBTC would have needed to compensate MCOT for the loss.

MCOT holds 144MHz in the 2.6GHz band. Playwork has a 15-year contract with MCOT to use the spectrum to offer pay-TV and wireless broadband services, the Post said. CAT Telecom is the network provider for the service.

The NBTC earlier had considered securing additional spectrum bands for this year’s 4G auctions apart from the planned 900MHz and 1.8GHz frequencies. Those bands included the return of part of MCOT’s 2.6GHz holding.