Taiwan has set another world record in terms of broadband infrastructure, with broadband Internet access now available in all but one of its townships and villages, National Communications Commission (NCC) Chairman Su Yeong-chin (蘇永欽) said yesterday.
Su made the remarks a day after the inauguration of broadband services in five remote villages in Taitung County.
"We have surmounted tremendous technological challenges and accomplished an almost impossible mission ahead of schedule," Su said.
He added that Taiwan is the first country in the world to have such an extensive broadband infrastructure set up in virtually every remote township and village.
On Saturday, Su joined several other officials, including Taitung County Commissioner Kuang Li-chen (鄺麗貞) and Chunghwa Telecom (中華電信) chairman Hochen Tan (賀陳旦), in presiding over the launch of broadband services in the five remote Aboriginal communities in Taitung County.
The five villages -- Tachu (
In an effort to narrow the digital divide between urban and rural areas, the NCC -- the country's telecommunications and media regulatory body -- identified 46 remote or secluded villages that lacked broadband service earlier this year.
"We must make the necessary hardware and software investments to prevent these places from falling behind in this digital era, " Su said.
He added that broadband Internet access would serve as a window for children and other residents in remote areas to acquire more knowledge.
The NCC asked Chunghwa Telecom, the country's largest telecommunications service provider, to build broadband infrastructure in 43 of the villages or townships in eight counties, and Taiwan Fixed Network to do so in three villages in Alishan Township (阿里山) in Chiayi County.
The NCC also demanded that the Internet connection speed in all these areas be increased to 2Mb per second or faster.
The two companies used either optical fiber or wireless network technologies to overcome technological barriers and finally completed the challenging work ahead of schedule, Su said.
He said that the partially state-owned Chunghwa Telecom alone injected more than NT$93 million (US$2.86 million) in broadband infrastructure setup in 43 barely accessible townships in mountain or offshore regions in Miaoli, Hualien, Pingtung, Taitung, Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung and Nantou counties.
The "broadband for every township" project was originally scheduled for completion by the end of this year, but all the work was completed by Dec. 15, except in Haucha Village (
The broadband infrastructure setup in the mountain village has been rescheduled for completion in late February, Su said.
Chunghwa Telecom has also opened a digital classroom in Chenhsing Village and donated 10 brand new computers for use by local residents.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS