Digital broadcasting is unlikely by 2006 to achieve the 85-percent market penetration that the government has said it will, according to Gary Tsai (
CNS launched its digital service in Keelung City last June and has introduced interactive TV in Taipei County and Taoyuan County. Despite years of effort, CNS has amassed only 10,000 digital subscribers.
CNS, along with two other digital-TV operators -- Eastern Multimedia Co (EMC,
Because the formats of the set-top boxes vary according to digital TV carrier, Tsai said the company had suggested that subscribers rent the boxes for a price that would also cover the basic channels provided by the company.
"I don't know why on earth we are required to set a price for selling the boxes since we don't want to sell them at all," he said.
However, the city government has held firm on the requirement in the name of the public interest.
The government has also cited stipulations in the Telecommunications Law (
The dispute is going to the city government's Cable TV Fee Review Committee after CNS filed a petition with the Government Information Office (GIO).
The bickering over the problem mirrors problems with the development of digital TV nationwide.
Carriers are having a difficult time attracting content providers because Taiwan is a small market. This in turn has caused complaints among subscribers, who have said digital TV does not provide any major advantages over cable broadcasting, Tsai said.
A survey conducted in August last year by the Keelung City Government showed that 199 out of 200 subscribers polled were disappointed with the channels they were paying for.
In addition to providing basic cable channels and a tier of pay-per-view programs, digital TV allows viewers to access information on weather, travel and stocks, and also allows them to shop, e-mail and browse the Internet using an ordinary remote control.
Tsai said that CNS plans to add more interactive functions such as personal banking access and stock trades in its service.
"But without a large customer base, we have no cash to provide these brilliant services," Tsai said.
David Dea, president and chief operating officer of TBC, says his company suffers from the same problem.
"If the Taipei City Government does not change its position on the subject, Taipei City will become a digital desert compared to other Asian countries including China, which has a faster rate of digital TV growth," Dea said.
Tsai said that he is not pessimistic across the board about the future of digital TV in the nation, saying that because the public and industry groups have been raising issues with the government, the progress of bringing digital TV into homes of Taipei residents will be faster in the second half of the year.
Tsai said the GIO may seek to resolve some issues through administrative decrees, and eventually the legislature may rewrite the laws that govern the broadcasting industry.
"To prevent Taiwan from lagging behind the rest of the world, a set of supporting measures is needed ? and we need to do this as fast as we can," Tsai said.
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