The National Communications Commission (NCC) said yesterday it was considering changing the adjustment coefficient in the telecoms rates every year rather than every three years.
NCC spokesperson Chen Cheng-chang (陳正倉) said the commission was mulling over the plan because more than 100,000 consumers had complained on Facebook that they were not reaping the benefits of the commission’s rate cut policy and urged telecoms operators to drop the rates further.
Operators, consumers
“Should the commission decide to change the coefficient every year, telecoms operators will feel uncertain as to what the government is planning to do every year,” Cheng said. “Consumers, on the other hand, will benefit more if the coefficient is subject to change every year.”
According to the Administrative Regulations Governing Tariffs of Type I Telecommunications Enterprises (第一電信事業資費管理辦法), the NCC must follow a set formula in calculating rate adjustments.
Article 3 also states that the adjustment coefficient in the formula shall be determined and regularly adjusted by the commission.
Already set
The commission announced last year that the adjustment coefficient over the next three years for fixed and mobile telecommunications services would be 4.816 percent and 5 percent respectively.
The actual percentage of adjustment varies from year to year as the formula also factors in the consumer price index.
Reductions
This year, the NCC said the rates of the fixed communications services would be reduced by at least 3.856 percent.
Rates for mobile phone users, including those with second-generation and third-generation services, will be dropped by a minimum of 4.04 percent as well.
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