In a bid to keep up with rapidly changing technology, the National Communications Commission (NCC) is working to update rules governing businesses and services.
The commission said the Administrative Rules on Type II Telecommunications Business (第二類電信事業管理規則) are outdated and cannot meet the challenges posed by new services such as Juiker or Vehicle-to-X communication (V2X).
The decision was made at a recent commission meeting, where the commissioners agreed to hold another public hearing on the voice-over-the-Internet service offered by mobile application Juiker.
The app was jointly developed by the government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and LofTech Corp as part of the government’s efforts to prevent leaks of confidential information via popular apps such as Line or WeChat.
Its functions include texting, making calls over the Internet and calling cellphone or landline telephone numbers at cheaper rates.
However, Juiker’s developers have been accused of offering a Type II service without a license because users can make calls to mobile phones or landlines like with Microsoft’s Skype, which was required to apply for a Type II telecom business license.
Type II businesses are telecoms that offer services via networks constructed by Type I businesses such as Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan Mobile and Far EasTone Telecommunications.
The commission last week ruled that V2X communication service provider Kingway Technology should secure a Type II license if it offers such services via a 4G service network.
Commission spokesperson Yu Hsiao-cheng (虞孝成) said that the rules were introduced in 1999 and have been amended three times since 2003.
The nation has seen a rapid development of the mobile communication service during this period of time, so the commission needs to consider several things in making new revisions, he said.
“Many people have expressed hope that the government would not restrict the development [of value-added mobile apps] by imposing stricter laws. On the other hand, governments around the world are also aware that these innovative services affect the revenue of the existing telecom companies,” he said.
“If these operators cannot survive the competition from emerging communication services, this would affect their interest in making further investments in network infrastructure,” he said.
The V2X service proposed by Kingway would allow users to access its self-developed software through telecoms’ SIM cards, meaning users would have to buy the company’s software and SIM cards if they want to download the latest traffic report from the Internet.
According to the commission’s rulings, that makes Kingway a mobile virtual network operator, so it needs to have a Type II license, he said.
The administrative rules also need to be rewritten to redefine the types of services listed, since they currently reflect what was on offer when voice communication was the predominant service.
“The current rules require that mobile virtual network operators offer voice services, but the company only plans to provide data transmission service, with no plans to branch out into voice communication. The rules are clearly outdated and do not reflect the ‘status quo,’” he said.
The commission also ruled that it would not strictly regulate telecom services as long as the services offered do not involve the redistribution of the frequencies or assignment of telephone numbers.
Yu said the commission has proposed five new acts to tackle issues brought by new technologies as the Telecommunication Act (電信法) and other regulations governing telecoms are inadequate.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai