Close to 50,000 subscribers of Chunghwa Telecom’s high-speed Internet service are to enjoy reduced monthly fees after the National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday approved its new rate plan.
The new plan covers three service categories — 300 megabits per second (Mbps), 500Mbps and 1 gigabits per second (1Gbps), NCC spokesman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said.
The nation’s largest telecom company not only dropped the nominal prices for the three services, but also plans to offer even lower promotional fares, Wong said.
Based on the approved rate plan, the nominal price of the 300M/100M service has been reduced from NT$1,699 to NT$1,399 per month. The nominal prices for 500M/250M and 1G/600M are also to drop from NT$2,399 to NT$1,799 and from NT$2,599 to NT$2,399 respectively.
The company plans to further lower monthly fees to NT$1,199, NT$1,599 and NT$2,199 to attract new subscribers.
NCC data showed that Chunghwa Telecom currently has 48,014 subscribers for the 300M/100M service, 1,381 for 500M/250M and 562 for 1G/600M.
All subscribers are to benefit from the new rate plan, Wong said.
Wong attributed the significant fee adjustment to competition from cable service operators.
Due to the digitization of cable services, cable operators are able to offer 500Mbps broadband service at NT$799 per month, he said.
In 2011, consumers had to pay about NT$2,000 to NT$3,000 per month for 100Mbps Internet access service, but because of competition, prices for the same service have dropped below NT$1,000 per month, he said.
“This shows that consumers benefit from competition among different platforms,” Wong said.
The price of fixed network Internet service has also dropped because of increasingly popular mobile Internet service, as most telecom carriers offer unlimited data service at low prices, he said.
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
Reports of Taiwanese going missing, being detained or interrogated, or having their personal liberties restricted in China increased about fourfold annually last year, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Last year, 221 Taiwanese who traveled to China were reported missing, were detained and interrogated, or otherwise had their personal freedom restricted, up from 55 the previous year, the council said. Reopening group tours to China would be risky, as it would leave travelers with no way to seek help through official channels after Beijing shut down dialogue between the associations tasked with handling cross-strait tourism, the MAC said. Taipei’s Taiwan Strait Tourism
RSS