The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday confirmed that it has received an application for a merger between Asia-Pacific Telecom (APT) and Ambit Microsystems Corp, adding that it would consider the two companies as the applicant when it reviews the qualifications of bidders for a frequency spectrum auction this year.
NCC spokesperson Yu Hsiao-cheng (虞孝成) said the two companies are awaiting merger approval, with some concerned that the two companies would collude in the frequency spectrum auction at the end of this year if they represented as two separate bidders.
Yu said that the commission is amending the Regulations for Administration of Mobile Broadband Businesses (行動寬頻業務管理規則) to stipulate the commission regard two merging companies as one applicant, even if their application for merger has yet to be approved by the commission.
Yu said that APT last week announced that the company and Ambit would not participate in the auction as two separate bidders, adding that the two would jointly bid for spectrum under the newly established GT Telecom name.
After it was discovered that APT was using Taiwan Mobile’s core network through a roaming partnership without building its own infrastructure, other service providers urged the commission not to allow APT or Ambit to participate in the auction for the frequency band between 2.5 gigahertz (GHz) and 2.6GHz.
In response, Yu said APT was not the only service provider found to have been sharing a core network with other carriers. For example, Taiwan Mobile last week was fined NT$3 million (US$97,777) for sharing its infrastructure with Mobitai Telecommunications Co and TransAsia Telecom after the two companies were merged into its operations, he said, adding that this was the fourth punishment handed down to Taiwan Mobile for the same infraction of the Telecommunications Act (電信法).
Based on the Administrative Procedure Act (行政程序法), the commission has two months to complete a review of the case. The commission could spend two more months reviewing the case if it deems such move is necessary.
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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