Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) yesterday urged the National Communications Commission (NCC) to deal fairly with a spectrum dispute, as Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) would own a bigger slice of prime frequency band than regulations allow following the acquisition of a smaller rival.
The commission is to hold two public hearings tomorrow and on Sunday to address potential problems related to Far EasTone’s acquisition of Asia Pacific Telecom Co (亞太電信) and the merger between Taiwan Mobile and Taiwan Star Telecom Corp (台灣之星).
Taiwan Mobile’s merger would give it a combined 60 megahertz (MHz) of the 5G spectrum in the 1 gigahertz (GHz) band, surpassing the upper limit of one-third, or 50MHz, of the total auctioned spectrum of 150MHz, as the Regulations for Administration of Mobile Broadband Businesses (行動寬頻業務管理規則) stipulate.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan Mobile said the restrictions would be unreasonable after the nation’s telecommunications market again becomes dominated by the three major operators.
It suggested that the commission relax the rules and raise the limit to 40 percent.
It added that it would continue fighting for the right to retain the 10MHz spectrum in exchange for offering services that benefit the public, such as deploying more 5G base stations in rural areas.
Far EasTone and Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) have called on Taiwan Mobile to abide by the regulations and return the 10MHz to the government for a second auction, or other arrangements.
“Our rival would own a bigger spectrum than the rules stipulate. That will have a big impact,” Far EasTone president Chee Ching (井琪) told reporters on the sidelines of a press conference in Taipei.
With a larger spectrum in the low-band, Taiwan Mobile would gain a competitive edge in cost, as the 1GHz band — dubbed the “golden frequency band” — would allow a wireless carrier to achieve a similar 5G network coverage by installing much fewer base stations, compared with those using a mid-band or high-band spectrum, Ching said.
Far EasTone has abided by related rules and invested heavily in acquiring 5G spectrum assets, Ching said, adding that it would make no sense if Taiwan Mobile were allowed to breach the rules and gain extra spectrum.
Far EasTone said it has deployed more than 700 base stations in remote areas, the most among local peers, to provide real-time information and healthcare delivery in Taitung and Hualien counties’ rural areas through 5G network.
The company has also helped incubate 20 local start-ups by launching applications using 5G and metaverse technologies, aiming to provide solutions for local businesses seeking to facilitate digital transformation, it said.
The solutions developed by the start-ups could create about NT$70 million (US$2.2 million) in production value, it said.
Far EasTone launched its first 5G incubator last year and started its second one yesterday.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI