Taiwan has set another world record in terms of broadband infrastructure, with broadband Internet access now available in all but one of its townships and villages, National Communications Commission (NCC) Chairman Su Yeong-chin (蘇永欽) said yesterday.
Su made the remarks a day after the inauguration of broadband services in five remote villages in Taitung County.
"We have surmounted tremendous technological challenges and accomplished an almost impossible mission ahead of schedule," Su said.
He added that Taiwan is the first country in the world to have such an extensive broadband infrastructure set up in virtually every remote township and village.
On Saturday, Su joined several other officials, including Taitung County Commissioner Kuang Li-chen (鄺麗貞) and Chunghwa Telecom (中華電信) chairman Hochen Tan (賀陳旦), in presiding over the launch of broadband services in the five remote Aboriginal communities in Taitung County.
The five villages -- Tachu (
In an effort to narrow the digital divide between urban and rural areas, the NCC -- the country's telecommunications and media regulatory body -- identified 46 remote or secluded villages that lacked broadband service earlier this year.
"We must make the necessary hardware and software investments to prevent these places from falling behind in this digital era, " Su said.
He added that broadband Internet access would serve as a window for children and other residents in remote areas to acquire more knowledge.
The NCC asked Chunghwa Telecom, the country's largest telecommunications service provider, to build broadband infrastructure in 43 of the villages or townships in eight counties, and Taiwan Fixed Network to do so in three villages in Alishan Township (阿里山) in Chiayi County.
The NCC also demanded that the Internet connection speed in all these areas be increased to 2Mb per second or faster.
The two companies used either optical fiber or wireless network technologies to overcome technological barriers and finally completed the challenging work ahead of schedule, Su said.
He said that the partially state-owned Chunghwa Telecom alone injected more than NT$93 million (US$2.86 million) in broadband infrastructure setup in 43 barely accessible townships in mountain or offshore regions in Miaoli, Hualien, Pingtung, Taitung, Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung and Nantou counties.
The "broadband for every township" project was originally scheduled for completion by the end of this year, but all the work was completed by Dec. 15, except in Haucha Village (
The broadband infrastructure setup in the mountain village has been rescheduled for completion in late February, Su said.
Chunghwa Telecom has also opened a digital classroom in Chenhsing Village and donated 10 brand new computers for use by local residents.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS