The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday defended its plan requiring telecom carriers to lower tariffs for fixed and mobile telecommunication services, saying it would also benefit carriers in the long run.
“If you look at the profits of telecom carriers in their annual earnings reports, you’ll see if they are profitable or not,” NCC spokesperson Chen Jeng-chang (陳正倉) said. “We’re simply asking them to reward their customers after they have earned so much money.”
‘WIN-WIN’
Chen said that if telecom carriers made it cheaper for customers to call via mobile phones, this would encourage usage, which in turn would increase the earnings of service providers.
It’s a “win-win” situation, Chen told reporters after an NCC meeting to finalize the policy, which will take effect on April 1.
He added that the commission had factored in growth in the consumer price index (CPI) when calculating the rate adjustments.
The Administrative Regulation Governing Tariffs of Type I Telecommunications Enterprises (第一電信事業資費管理辦法) states that the NCC must follow a set formula in calculating rate adjustments. Article 3 also states that the adjustment coefficient in the formula shall be determined and regularly adjusted by the commission.
The commission announced on Wednesday that the adjustment coefficient over the next three years for fixed and mobile telecommunication services would be 4.816 percent and 5 percent respectively.
For the first year, the retail rates for fixed and mobile telecommunication services will drop by 5.686 percent and 5.87 percent respectively after factoring in inflation in the previous year.
The commission’s decision has upset telecom carriers, who said the new policy was unacceptable and have threatened to file an appeal if the reductions were implemented.
Chen said yesterday that the new rates would apply to all telecommunication service plans approved by the NCC, adding that all telecom carriers must hand in their new service plans by March 12.
WHOLESALE PRICE
The commission also asked its staff to deliver a proposal on how to regulate wholesale telecommunication prices by the end of May.
While the commission has confirmed the wording of the new policy, commissioners Lee Ta-sung (李大嵩) and Liu Chorng-jian (劉崇堅) will present separate opinions on it.
Chen said the commissioners had differing opinions on whether the mobile communications market was fully competitive.
Liu Li-chau (劉莉秋), spokesperson for the Taiwan Telecommunication Industry Development Association, said it still could not accept the NCC’s explanation yesterday, but she said the association was glad that the commission was planning to regulate wholesale prices.
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