National Communications Commission (NCC) Chairman Howard Shyr (石世豪) yesterday said that the commission would release its ranking of telecommunications carriers according to the number of consumer complaints in the first quarter of the year.
Shyr made the announcement at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, held to review a proposed amendment to the Telecommunications Act (電信法) that would ban telecom carriers from building service station bases on the site of all schools up to the senior-high school level.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Chia-cheng (盧嘉辰) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-tse (李昆澤) said that the commission had received 1,688 complaints involving disputes between telecoms carriers and consumers in the period between January and March this year, which accounted for more than 50 percent of the total last year.
Lee said the commission should be more active in resolving the disputes, rather than just forwarding the complaints to the relevant carrier. The public has a right to know which carrier received the largest number of complaints, he said, adding that this would motivate the carriers to improve.
Lee added that the regulations on seeking compensation from telecom carriers were too strict. Currently, consumers can only be compensated if they experience a disconnection in mobile communication service for more than two hours or for more than 12 hours for fixed network services. He said that users’ monthly service fee should be waived if their carrier fails to resume normal service within two hours.
The committee passed a resolution asking the commission to study the feasibility of demanding that land or property owned by government agencies and state-run corporations be made available for base stations. The resolution also urged the commission to monitor changes in electromagnetic waves near the base stations every season without giving notice to the carriers.
KMT Legislator Luo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) and DPP Legislator Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) said that nearly all government agencies had turned down requests to have a station installed on their premises because it would upset the residents in their neighborhoods. The two legislators said that the public’s aversion to the stations is proof that the commission has failed to assure people about the safety of living near the stations.
RESOLUTIONS DEBATE: Taiwan’s allies said that UN and WHA resolutions cited by China and other nations ‘do not determine Taiwan’s participation in WHO activities’ A proposal to invite Taiwan to this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA) was rejected on Monday, resulting in Taipei’s absence from the annual meeting for a ninth consecutive year, although partners spoke up for Taiwan’s participation at the first day of the meeting. The first agenda item after the opening was a “two-on-two debate” on a proposal to invite Taiwan to participate at the WHA as an observer. Similar to previous years, two countries made statements in favor of the proposal, while two others expressed their opposition. Philippine Secretary of Health Teodoro Herbosa, president of the 78th WHA, accepted the WHA General Committee’s
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) on Friday laid out the Cabinet’s updated policy agenda and recapped the government’s achievements ahead of the one-year anniversary of President William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration. Cho said the government had made progress across a range of areas, including rebuilding Hualien, cracking down on fraud, improving pedestrian safety and promoting economic growth. “I hope the public will not have the impression that the Cabinet only asked the legislature to reconsider a bunch of legal amendments,” Cho said, calling the moves “necessary” to protect constitutional governance and the public’s interest. The Cabinet would work toward achieving its “1+7” plan, he said. The
Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) hosted a dinner in Taipei last night with key Taiwanese suppliers to celebrate the successful mass production of the company’s new Blackwell AI systems. Speaking to the media earlier yesterday, Huang thanked Nvidia’s Taiwanese partners for their contributions to the company’s ecosystem, while also sharing his plans to meet with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀). In response to rumors that Nvidia will launch a downgraded Hopper H20 chip for China in July, Huang dismissed the reports, saying, “That is not true.” He clarified that there
RSS