Taiwan’s government took another step towards enabling commercial 5G launches by revealing plans to release 100MHz of spectrum in the 4.8GHz to 4.9GHz band for public and private organisations to test potential applications for the next-generation mobile tech, Taipei Times reported.

The allocation will be separate from 5G spectrum provided to mobile operators for general communication services. After the cabinet approves the move, interested parties can apply for trial use of the band and will be charged for the spectrum they use.

It aims to give the public and private sectors up to two years to test various IoT, AI and smart city services, with plans to issue operating licences for the dedicated band in 2021 or 2022.

Taiwan’s National Communications Commission is due to kick off the nation’s first 5G auction tomorrow (10 December), selling 20MHz in the 1.8GHz band, 270MHz in the 3.5GHz band and 2500MHz in the 28GHz band.

The auctions are forecast to generate more than TWD40 billion ($1.3 billion), the newspaper said.