The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) yesterday told telecommunications service providers to stop using the media as a tool to reach a mutual understanding on their marketing activities, saying such behavior violate regulations and hurt consumers’ interests.
Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), the nation’s largest telecom, last month told local media that it “hopes” to stop offering its NT$699 per month plan for unlimited mobile Internet access by the end of this month.
Taiwan Mobile Corp (台灣大哥大), the nation’s No. 2 telecom, on Wednesday last week told media that the company will “very likely” phase out its NT$699 unlimited mobile Internet package by the end of this month — the same timing as Chunghwa Telecom.
Taiwan Mobile chief business officer Jeff Ku (谷元宏) was quoted by local media as saying that the nation’s telecoms should compete in a rational manner and raise monthly fees for unlimited mobile Internet plans.
The two companies have apparently used the media to encourage peers to agree on withdrawing low-priced package plans by a set time frame, which would constitute a concerted action and violate the Fair Trade Act (公平交易法), the commission said.
The companies could face fines of up to NT$50 million (US$1.62 million) if their remarks result in the removal of the low-cost plans from the market, the commission added.
Taiwan Mobile yesterday denied using the media to communicate with its peers, saying it was only responding to reporters’ questions when it said the current competition is not healthy.
Taiwan Mobile has not officially announced a plan to end its unlimited 4G Internet plan by the end of this month, it said in a statement.
In a bid to boost their 4G subscriber numbers, Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan Mobile and Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) have provided low-cost, monthly unlimited 4G mobile Internet plans since the end of 2015.
The nation’s three largest telecoms have repeatedly extended their low-cost offerings over fears of losing subscribers, even though such plans could hurt their profitability in the long term.
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