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NCC to investigate major telecoms operators

The National Communications Commission (NCC) will soon launch an investigation targeting Asia Pacific Telecom Co (亞太電信) and Chunghwa International Communication Network (中華國際通訊網路) for allegedly overcharging customers.

NCC spokesperson Chen Jeng-chang (陳正倉) called for the investigation after news reports that a 16-year-old student received a NT$110,000 phone bill after spending hours on the phone with a woman he had met online.

The woman asked the student to call her mobile phone, whose number began with 0985, which is allocated to Asia Pacific Telecom. She then asked him to put that line on hold and dial another mobile phone number on the Chunghwa International Communication Network. The woman assured the student that this was a way to save money, when in fact the student was being charged for calling two mobile phone numbers simultaneously.

The student called the woman several times a week and held both lines without hanging up for four straight days.

The student called from a regular Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) land line.

Chunghwa International Communication Network is also one of Asia Pacific Telecom’s corporate accounts.

After negotiating with the student’s parents, Chunghwa Telecom cut the charge from NT$110,000 to NT$30,000.

The NCC said firms offering paid voice services over the phone are categorized as second-tier telecom operators. They normally deliver the service through platforms set up by first-tier telecom operators including Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) and Asia Pacific Telecom.

The numbers for paid voice services usually have the prefix 0204, 0208 and 0209. By law, callers to these numbers must be charged no more than NT$100 per minute. The calls must also be automatically disconnected after five minutes. If a call lasts more than five minutes, the caller will be charged NT$500.

The focus of the NCC investigation will be whether the operators have been using mobile phone numbers while charging customers the paid voice service rate.

“Technically, callers do not have to pay anything if both caller and receiver belong to the same network. Callers should also be charged fixed rates for calling outside the network,” said Chen Kuo-lung (陳國龍), chief of the NCC business management department.

“Our job is to make sure the companies stick to the rate plan that they submitted to us,” Chen said.

If Chunghwa International Communication Network is contracted by Asia Pacific Telecom to offer additional services, the services must also be approved by the NCC before they can be offered to customers.

Article 67 in the Telecommunication Act (電信法) states that operators can be fined between NT$30,000 and NT$300,000 if the operational plan is not approved by the administrative authority.
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