A dispute between two Thai state-owned enterprises over ownership of Thai Mobile appears to have been resolved this week with the news that TOT has agreed to buy out CAT Telecom’s holding for 2.4 billion baht (US$70 million) over five years. According to Bangkok Post, citing comments from Thailand’s Information and Communications Technology minister Mun Patanotai, TOT will also absorb all of Thai Mobile’s 6.7 billion baht of debt. Thai Mobile’s 3G spectrum is considered the most valuable aspect of the asset as it reportedly has fewer than 60,000 2G customers.

The deal is expected to pave the way for Thailand to finally launch 3G services, which has been delayed because of the internal disputes between the market’s main players. Patanotai has previously stated that he plans to introduce 3G commercially before the end of this year. In April, the GSMA called on Thailand to issue new 3G licenses in an effort to improve the availability of broadband services in the country, which currently has a penetration rate of only 2.2 percent.