National Communications Commission (NCC) spokesman Lee Ta-sung (李大嵩) said yesterday that the commission would consider the impact on the media market when issuing operation licenses for terrestrial TV services.
A story in yesterday’s Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) said the Ministry of Transportation and Communications was planning to release a maximum of five terrestrial TV licenses.
The ministry is in charge of the planning and use of the nation’s radio spectrum. The commission issues the operational licenses and sets the issuing rules.
The story said the ministry wants to add five terrestrial TV stations to the five that already exist. If the digital TV service is available by then, the 10 terrestrial stations could even be expanded 30 channels, the newspaper said.
Lee said the ministry was still seeking input from the public on the plan and the commission was awaiting policy instructions from the ministry.
“We understand the impact [the policy] will have on the market, which we will take into account,” Lee said. “Current operators have already established the infrastructure for digital broadcast. Newcomers could share those resources and develop new operational models with the current players.”
Lee said the licenses would either be sold or auctioned, but it was not a revenue-enhancing bid.
“The Government Information Office was reprimanded by the Control Yuan in 2002 for not holding public auction for the operational licenses,” he said. “We have to sell them or let others bid for them.”
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
LIKE-MINDED COUNTRIES: Despite the threats from outside, Taiwan and Lithuania thrived and developed their economies, former president Tsai Ing-wen said Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Saturday thanked Lithuania for its support of Taiwan, saying that both countries are united as partners in defending democracy. Speaking at a reception organized by the Lithuania-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group welcoming her on her first visit to the Baltic state, Tsai said that while she was president from 2016 to last year, many Lithuanian “friends” visited Taiwan. “And I told myself I have to be here. I am very happy that I am here, a wonderful country and wonderful people,” Tsai said. Taiwan and Lithuania are in similar situations as both are neighbors to authoritarian countries, she
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is to visit the UK during her ongoing European trip, which originally included only Lithuania and Denmark, her office said today. Tsai departed Taiwan for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark, marking her second visit to the continent since her two-term presidency ended in May last year. Her office issued a statement today saying that Tsai would also visit the UK "for a few days," during which she is to meet with UK politicians and Taiwanese professionals, and visit academic and research institutions. Following Tsai's stop in Denmark, she is to visit the
RSS