Thailand’s three leading mobile operators have planned a press conference to put pressure on the military government to move ahead with the country’s delayed 4G auction next year.

AIS, Dtac and True Move are organising the press event entitled “Moving Thailand into the 4G era to serve the digital economy”, the Bangkok Post reported.

The country’s junta, which took power in May, pushed back the 900MHz and 1.8GHz auctions, scheduled for late this year, until 2015. At the time, it called for changes in a number of sections of the frequency act to improve transparency before the process.

Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) said last month it plans to move ahead with next year’s 4G auction as soon as July, with preparations starting in January.

But recent developments at the NBTC have raised concerned that the 2015 target may be delayed again. The national legislative assembly last month proposed that the act be changed to eliminate the independent regulator, after it reviewed allegations of massive waste and a lack of good government at the NBTC.

The country’s operators say new spectrum is vital for them to be able to keep up with soaring data traffic.

Thailand has almost 40 million smartphones – a quarter of which are 4G, the Post said. Average monthly data consumption is 400Mb.