Starting on March 1, people using public telephones to make long-distance calls will be charged NT$1 per minute, the National Communications Commission (NCC) said yesterday.
Currently, payphone users are charged NT$1 per 20 seconds if they make long-distance calls during regular hours and are charged NT$1 per 35 seconds if they call during off-peak hours.
The new scheme, which was approved by the commission yesterday, will charge payphone users NT$1 per minute, regardless of whether they are long-distance or intralocality calls. However, people calling from payphones to mobile phones will still be charged NT$10 per minute.
The commission yesterday also passed an amendment to Article 5 of the Regulations for Administration on Satellite Communication Services (衛星通信業務管理規則), allowing the nation’s telecoms carriers to offer satellite communication services on behalf of foreign operators.
Commission spokesperson Chen Jeng-chang (陳正倉) said the amendment was proposed by the mother of Chang Po-wei (張博崴), a student who died last year while climbing Baigudashan (白姑大山). Chang used his mobile phone to contact his girlfriend on Feb. 28 last year. While police and firefighters launched a rescue operation on March 1, Chang’s body was not found until April 20.
Cheng Ming-tsung (鄭明宗), chief of the commission’s satellite communication section, said: “If mountain climbers have satellite phones, rescue teams could locate them faster.”
Cheng added that customers could rent satellite phones from telecoms carriers.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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