A group of cable television operators yesterday challenged the subscription rate standards set by various local governments for the year 2000, arguing the standards are far too low to cover the expenses of running a licensed cable system.
Against a maximum rate of NT$600 per subscriber per month set by the Government Information Office (GIO), local governments have recently announced their own standards according to which cable TV operators are permitted to charge their subscribers in 2000.
While Kaohsiung City has set NT$480 as the maximum rate, the lowest of all, 10 other localities have also set rates below NT$600, ranging from NT$500 to NT$580. Only 10 localities maintain NT$600 as their maximum.
Yang Teng-kuei (楊登魁), chairman of the Association for Cable Broadcasting Development (中華民國有線傳播發展協進會), said practices by the local governments are threatening the development of the cable TV industry, which has striven to upgrade facilities and programming quality to meet the strict requirements for business licenses.
"This is like driving us back to the old path [of disregarding quality]," Yang said.
Yang said the rates should not be further cut when the payments charged by channel agents are hiked every year.
Low subscription rates used to be a tool used by some cable operators to attract subscribers in the past, when the cable TV industry was not fully under legal control. They were able to do so because they simply pirated lines already in use.
"Of the 1,000-plus cable operators that existed during the peak period, 80 percent were pirates," Yang said.
While operators only needed NT$50,000 to launch a system in the past, the cost is at least NT$200 million today, Yang pointed out.
The GIO has tried to impose better management on the industry in recent years and has set strict requirements for them to obtain business licenses. Only 86 applications have been approved, with 22 having obtained their licenses and 64 others expected to get their licenses by July 2000.
Han Shu-yuan (
While the cost per subscriber is NT$550 for her company, the county government has set a NT$500 ceiling on prices, Han said.
"Under these circumstances, the company will lose NT$1.5 million on a monthly basis and will inevitably close," Han said.
David Liu (劉篤行), chairman of Filmate International Incorporation (木喬傳播事業股份有限公司), said based on the quantity and quality of the programs provided by cable TV operators, the subscription fee of NT$600 is still too low.
"The subscription rate in Taiwan is the cheapest in all of Asia," Liu said.
Chang Chung-jen (張崇仁), director of the GIO's Department of Radio and Television Affairs, said the GIO has already discovered possible flaws involved in setting uniform standards at the local level.
Chang said that based on the Cable Television Law passed in February, local governments are empowered to screen the subscription fees reported by cable operators.
Local governments are required to evaluate factors such as the cost and local management conditions to decide whether to set rate limits below NT$600, Chang added.
Chang said when the GIO set the NT$600 ceiling two years ago, the cost involving the upgrading of their facilities was not covered, and licensed cable operators can in fact charge more than NT$600 with special approval from local governments.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique