First International Telecom Corp’s (大眾電信) plan to suspend its services in Greater Taichung and Greater Kaohsiung was rejected by the National Communications Commission (NCC), which said it was not part of the mobile carrier’s restructuring plan.
First International Telecom, the nation’s only lower-power personal handyphone system (PHS), had filed an application with the commission to streamline its business by cutting its telecoms services to those two areas for a three-year period: from March 1 to Feb. 28, 2015.
The financially strapped telecoms operator had obtained the local district courts’ approval in 2009 for a restructuring.
NCC spokesperson Chen Jeng-chang (陳正倉) said the company should continue its services in central and southern Taiwan.
According to the commission, First International Telecom still has about 10,000 customers in Greater Taichung and Greater Kaohsiung. As of February, First International Telecom had about 800,000 mobile subscribers nationwide.
Earlier this week, the company reported that revenue last month fell to NT$84.36 million, down 32 percent from NT$124 million a year ago, but up slightly by 1.3 percent from February’s NT$83.26 million.
The firm lost NT$608 million in the first half of last year.
Separately, the NCC decided on Wednesday to limit the number of cable home shopping channels on cable television services to no more than 12, adding that the rule would apply to digital cable services.
Operators of home shopping channels will be required to obtain a six-year operating license from the NCC before they can go on air after the amendment to the Satellite Broadcasting Act (衛星廣播電視法) is passed by the legislature, the commission added.
Additional reporting by Lisa Wang
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