The military has completed construction of a nationwide fiberoptic communication system and is integrating its system with that of state-run Chunghwa Telecom, defense sources said yesterday.
The integration got under way last year following construction of the military's fiberoptic network, a project that took several years and cost a huge sum of money that the military refused to disclose.
The fiberoptic network has greatly improved the transmission of data in the military, covering Taiwan proper and offshore islands as well. The system transmits text, voice and video data.
Completion of the system represents a big step toward modernization of the military. In the past, the military relied heavily on radio transmission of either human voice or coded information of very limited sizes.
Now that military's communication hardware has been modernized, the armed services are struggling to handle a large and sudden increase in their information flow.
A defense official, who spoke on condition that he not be named, said the problem now is that too much information comes in at the same time.
"We used to complain about insufficient real-time information. But too much information is not a good thing if it isn't properly handled. That is the problem that we are facing and seeking to solve," the official said.
"We are writing software that could help us categorize and prioritize information. This is a job that the military cannot handle alone," he said.
The military is short of specialists in the field and has sought help from civilian experts to hasten finding a solution.
Much of the outside assistance comes from Chunghwa Telecom, which is seen as having the best and most experienced communication engineers in the country.
The military is also building connections between its fiberoptic network and the fiberoptic system of Chunghwa Telecom in order to establish information-sharing between the two.
The military plans to use Chunghwa's fiberoptic system as a backup system if its own system fails in wartime, sources said.
The military began the integration project last year. To make sure that information-sharing between the two systems will be safe, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) has made large purchases of stock in Chunghwa Telecom, sources said.
The move makes Chunghwa Telecom the MND's newest investment in the civilian sector.
The MND used to exert considerable control over Chinese Television System, one of the most profitable television companies in the past.
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