The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday approved proposed guidelines on its tiered-pricing plan for cable operators, which would remove the NT$600 cap on monthly cable service fees, with the final fee subject to review by the commission or local governments.
The commission drafted the guidelines following the passage of amendments to the Cable Television Act (有線廣播電視法) in December last year by the legislature, which instructed the commission to draft within six months a plan on how it would introduce a tiered-pricing model for cable service fees.
Prior to its decision yesterday, the commission had drafted five different service plans, with three of them capping the service charge at NT$500 to NT$600 per month.
Among these three plans, cable service providers must include one package containing all the basic channels for a maximum of NT$200 per month and at least three other basic packages priced between NT$100 and NT$130 each.
However, the two other plans other two plans removed the NT$600 cap on the monthly subscription fee.
One of them allows subscribers to choose a la carte pricing, in which they can choose and pay for the channels they want to watch in addition to the must-carry channels.
The other option not only lifts the monthly fee cap, but also gives cable operators flexibility to deliver various service packages.
Chi Hsiao-cheng (紀效正), deputy director of the commission’s planning department, said the commission chose the last option as it would give cable operators more flexibility in devising various service packages.
Apart from removing the cable fee cap, which has been in effect for more than 20 years, the new scheme would also give cable operators the choice of charging fess by household or by the number of set-top boxes (a device used to access digital content) installed in each household.
Currently, each household pays a flat fee of NT$500 to NT$550 per month for cable service access, regardless of the number of set-top boxes installed in the house.
Should cable operators decide to charge monthly fees by the number of set-top boxes installed, Chi said subscribers should be given bigger discounts with the increase in the number of devices installed.
Amid concern that removing the service fee cap would give cable operators unrestricted freedom to raise fees as they see fit, Chi said the commission has facilitated competition in the market by allowing cable operators to offer their services in more than one service area.
Subscribers can easily switch to a different cable operator if they are not content with the one they have now, he said.
In addition to the peer competition, cable operators face competition from over-the-top (OTT) content providers in Taiwan and in other countries, he said, adding that it is unlikely that they would offer service fees that exceed the amount currently set by cable operators.
Chi added that local governments would be authorized to review cable service charges proposed by cable operators annually.
The NCC can take over in cities or counties that do not have a committee to handle the task, he said.
For areas that only have a single cable operator, “we would suggest that the local government ask the operator to offer a lower service fee, as people have no other choices,” he said.
The commission would periodically release key statistics for local governments to consider when they review rates proposed by cable operators, including the number of cable service subscribers and service areas nationwide, as well as service fees in other countries.
The commission plans to post the guidelines online for public viewing within one week.
After gathering public opinions on the proposal, the commission would review them and submit its final plan to the legislature for approval, in hopes of implementing the new policy by next year.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard