The Fair Trade Commission yesterday fined Far EasTone Telecommunications Co NT$400,000 (US$12,500) for advertising misleading information about its mobile service rates.
The commission said that Far EasTone, the nation’s third-biggest telecoms carrier, advertised that one of its cellphone service plans gave customers 110 minutes of free calls to users of other mobile services and land lines.
However, the commission found that the company counted calls made to the toll-free local government hotline 1999 as part of the 110 minutes of free calls.
TOLL FREE
Since the 1999 hotline is toll free, deducting free minutes for calls made to the special phone number defeats the purpose of offering customers what was advertised, the commission said.
The commission initiated a probe into Far EasTone’s advertisement content and billing system after a customer filed a complaint with the commission.
The telecoms company told the commission that the charge had resulted from an error in its billing system.
However, the commission held the company responsible for ensuring that its billing system and records did not cause its products or services to differ from what was advertised.
The commission ruled the company had violated the Fair Trade Act (公平交易法) and fined it NT$400,000.
The company did not immediately respond to the commission’s fine.
JOINT VENTURE
In other developments, the commission yesterday said it had conditionally approved a joint venture to establish a digital online music service provider company.
The joint venture includes Far EasTone, Forward Music, Avex Taiwan and six other companies.
The new company, of which Far EasTone would hold a 50 percent share, would horizontally and vertically integrate several markets, including telecoms services, digital online music services and the music industry.
The commission said it did not bar the establishment of the new company because the move would be beneficial to healthy competition in the markets and provide a wider range of services to consumers.
However, the commission’s approval comes with certain restrictions, including that the music recording companies should not impose unreasonable restrictions on other music service providers, nor engage in anti-competition practices such as offering exclusive deals to the newly established company.
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