The government plans to lower the frequency usage fee for telecoms by adjusting frequency band coefficients to encourage the development of 5G service, the National Communications Commission (NCC) announced.
NCC spokesman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said the commission approved the proposed adjustment to the frequency usage fees at a meeting on Wednesday last week.
The revised coefficients must be made available to the public for two months before they take effect, he added.
Photo: Lo Chien-yi, Taipei Times
During the review period, members of the public are encouraged to comment on the standards, Wong said, adding that the commission would take any comments into consideration before finalizing the changes.
The adjustment was primarily proposed because the nation is to auction off bandwidth to be used for 5G so that the service can be developed by 2020, Wong said.
The commission also adjusted frequency band coefficients, as 5G service uses mostly high-frequency bandwidths, which have different physical properties and coverage ranges from lower-frequency spectrums.
Previously divided into three frequency bands for calculating usages fees, the proposal would divide the spectrum into four frequency bands: below 1GHz, 1GHz to 3GHz, 3GHz to 6GHz and 6GHz and above, with coefficients of 1, 0.75, 0.18 and 0.004 respectively.
The coefficient enables frequency usage fees to be adjusted according to the usability of the the license holder’s frequency band, the commission said.
Revenue from usage fees has gradually increased over the past few years: NT$2.42 billion (US$78.74 million) in 2015, NT$2.76 billion in 2016, NT$3.36 billion last year and NT$3.56 billion this year, NCC statistics showed.
The adjustment is expected to save telecoms an estimated NT$500 million following the fee adjustment, Wong said.
The commission has also adjusted the coverage coefficient to encourage telecoms to build infrastructure in rural areas, because signal coverage in some of the nation’s remote areas and along some of its transportation routes remains low.
The adjusted coefficient would also reduce frequency usage fees for telecoms working to improve signal reception in the tunnels along the North Link and the South Link rail lines, Wong said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Taiwan’s three major international carriers are increasing booking fees, with EVA Airways having already increased the charge to US$28 per flight segment from US$25, while China Airlines (CAL) and Starlux Airlines are set to follow suit. Booking fees are charged by airlines through a global distribution system (GDS) and passed on to passengers. Carriers that apply the fees include CAL, EVA, Starlux and Tigerair Taiwan. A GDS is a computerized network operated by a company that connects airlines with travel agents and ticketing platforms, allowing reservations to be made and processed in real time. Major players include Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport. EVA Air began
WATCH FOR HITCHHIKERS: The CDC warned those returning home from Japan to be alert for any contagious diseases that might have come back with them People who have returned from Japan following the World Baseball Classic (WBC) games during the weekend are recommended to watch for symptoms of infectious gastroenteritis, flu and measles for two weeks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. Flu viruses remain the most common respiratory pathogen in Taiwan in the past four weeks and the influenza B virus accounted for 55.7 percent of the tested cases, exceeding the percentage of influenza A (H3N2) infections and becoming the local dominant strain, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said at a news conference on Tuesday. There were 82,187 hospital visits for
Alumni from Japan’s Kyoto Tachibana Senior High School marching band, widely known as the “Orange Devils,” staged a flash mob performance at the Grand Hotel in Taipei yesterday to thank Taiwan for its support after the Great East Japan Earthquake. The show, performed on the earthquake’s 15th anniversary, drew more than 100 spectators, some of whom arrived two hours before the show to secure a good viewing spot. The 26-member group played selections from “High School Musical,” “Beauty and the Beast,” and their signature piece “Sing Sing Sing” and shouted “I love
RSS