The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that it would revise the rules governing the auction of radio frequencies for telecommunication services in light of frequency block swap lawsuits among telecoms.
The commission made the statement after it approved a change of business plan, as well as system construction plan, submitted by Taiwan Mobile yesterday.
The commission also approved the company’s application to return 5 megahertz (MHz) it previously owned in the 1.8 gigahertz (GHz) frequency band to the NCC, which is to reassign the band to Far Eastone Telecommunications.
According to the commission, Far Eastone secured the frequency block that was used by Taiwan Mobile to offer its 2G service in an auction held in 2013, and Taiwan Mobile gained the block that Far Eastone owned to serve 2G customers through the same auction.
As the 2G license is scheduled to expire next year, both Taiwan Mobile and Far Eastone then came to an agreement in June last year to swap the frequency band via the reassignment by the NCC.
While Far Eastone followed the agreement, Taiwan Mobile did not return the frequency band as it promised and continued to use the block to offer its 4G services.
The two companies then resorted to resolve the dispute by filing a lawsuit. The Taipei District Court ruled in favor of Far Eastone, saying that Taiwan Mobile must return the block, but it overruled Far Eastone’s request for compensation.
Far Eastone has taken the case to the High Court.
NCC spokesperson Wong Po-tsong (翁柏宗) said that since Taiwan Mobile indicated it would voluntarily return the frequency block, the commission would quickly reassign the frequency block to Far Eastone after it receives the block from Taiwan Mobile.
“We hope that there will be a seamless transition,” Wong said, adding that the move would help Far Eastone provide high-quality service and facilitate competition.
Taiwan Mobile still owns 2.4MHz in the band to serve its 2G subscribers, Wong said.
The commission also approved Asia Pacific Telecom’s (APT) application to change its business plan and system construction plan after it promise to build 1,100 high-speed base stations using the 900MHz frequency band before the end of this year.
Although APT also secured frequency blocks to offer its 4G service in the 2013 auction, it chose to offer its service by leasing the core network built by Taiwan Mobile instead of building its own network.
APT and Taiwan Mobile have each been fined NT$2.1 million (US$66,269) for violating the Telecommunications Act (電信法).
Wong said that APT decided to build their own network because it has to pay a penalty every three months for violating the Telecommunications Act.
Leasing the network from Taiwan Mobile also adds to APT’s operational cost, he said.
APT customers are growing increasingly dissatisfied with the quality of its 4G service, Wong said, adding that the network always bears “collateral damage” whenever Taiwan Mobile’s network goes out of order.
“The company was perhaps too optimistic about the development of a voice over long-term evolution network, which it said it planned to use to offer 4G. The cost was too high,” Wong said, commenting on APT’s decision to build its own network.
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