The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that it is to announce the results of 4G telecom service transmission speed measurements next week, which would be the first government report on 4G service quality since it was launched in 2014.
The commission also unveiled preliminary results of the measurement, which was conducted by the Telecommunications Technology Center.
The results from the mobile-phone users’ end showed that the average download speed was 40.87 megabits per second (MBs), while the average upload speed was 18.33MBs.
The commission said that the center measured transmission speeds at more than 7,800 fixed locations across Taiwan. The average download speed was 38.57MBs, while the average upload speed was 19.8MBs.
As an example of how fast the transmission speed is, commission spokesperson Yu Hsiao-cheng (虞孝成) said that a 4 gigabytes movie could be downloaded in about 14 minutes if the transmission speed is 40MBs.
The commission said that it is to measure transmission speeds of the 4G service offered at the 2.5 gigahertz (GHz) and 2.6GHz spectrums at the next phase of the measurement, which begins at the end of this month.
Three of the five 4G service operators have begun offering services using the spectrums, Chunghwa Telecom, Far EasTone Telecommunications (FET) and Taiwan Star, it said.
The commission said that it would analyze the performance of each telecom carrier, adding that the next phase of the measurement would take approximately three months to complete.
In other developments, the commission reiterated that it has followed the law to approve Morgan Stanley and FET’s acquisition of China Network Systems, adding that it has no way of knowing how the new government would rule on the case.
Yu made the statement in response to remarks by incoming minister without portfolio Shih Chun-ji (施俊吉), who on Tuesday said that the commission was being too nice to big corporations.
Shih said that the new government would produce strong and irrefutable evidence showing that CNS cannot be sold to FET, which he said has bypassed government regulations banning investment from the government, political parties and the military by teaming up with investors from overseas.
“As an agency in charge of regulating communications and telecommunications industries, we hope to support and develop the industry so that it is able to provide high-quality service and create jobs and in so doing can the people reap the greatest benefit,” Yu said.
Aside from suspending further review of the CNS deal, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) also proposed a law opposing media monopolization, banning the cable system operator from merging with terrestrial television, news channels, national radio broadcasting service and national newspapers.
Yu said that he was yet to read the proposed regulations, nor does he know the difference between the DPP’s version and one proposed by the commission.
However, he said that the amendments would be reviewed by the Legislative Yuan first.
The CNS deal was approved with conditions by both the NCC and the Fair Trade Commission, but it has yet to secure approval from the Investment Commission.
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