The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday urged universities to permit telecom carriers to install temporary base stations or signal boosters in their sports stadiums to enhance broadcasts and facilitate wireless communication services during the Taipei Summer Universiade, which opens tomorrow.
Telecom carriers have reported difficulties installing the devices inside some of the venues for the Games and can only rely on base stations nearby to boost transmission, commission spokesman Weng Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said.
However, the technical problems will not disrupt the Games’ broadcast, Weng said.
The commission would assist the organizer should it file emergency requests to improve broadcast signals in any venue, he said.
As of yesterday, a few universities have yet to respond to telecom carriers’ requests to install signal boosters or temporary base stations in their gymnasiums to improve reception quality.
They include National Taiwan University, National Taiwan Sports University, Hsin Wu University, Tamkang University and Fu Jen Catholic University.
The sporting venues in these universities are either very large or in basements, commission specialist Yang Chao-tong (楊朝棟) said.
Telecom carriers have tried to compensate by enlarging the areas covered by stations nearby, but it is not enough to improve reception in these venues, Yang said.
“Either they are concerned about potential health hazards caused by electromagnetic waves, or they do not think the equipment is necessary because they are hosting only a few preliminary games,” Yang said.
Universities should also consider the needs of athletes and viewers to access mobile communication services, the commission said.
“Athletes, families and sports fans from around the world will be attending the Universiade. It is not only a great opportunity for athletes to demonstrate the skills that they have been honing for years, but also for the world to see — through high-speed Internet service — that Taipei is a ‘smart’ city and Taiwan’s passion,” the commission said in a statement.
The carriers have been asking to improve reception in the athletes’ village and 79 venues since July last year, the commission said, adding that it has asked for assistance from the Ministry of Education and local governments.
Apart from watching the games at the designated venues, fans can watch televised broadcasts on Chinese Television System, Public Television Service and Videoland Sports Channel, or their respective YouTube channels.
They can also watch the Games through Chunghwa Telecom’s multimedia-on-demand (MOD) service and Hami Video.
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