People no longer need a license to operate personal locator beacons (PLB), the National Communications Commission (NCC) announced.
The decision was passed at the weekly meeting of the NCC on Wednesday.
NCC spokesperson Yu Hsiao-cheng (虞孝成) said that people often carry the beacons when they engage in outdoor activities in the mountains or at the sea.
He said that they can send signals for help through a personal locator beacons if they are in a threatening situation, particularly in remote areas or out of service areas for mobile phones.
The device allows people to send signals using frequencies from 406MHz to 121.5MHz, which are then transmitted through a satellite-based search and rescue system COSPAS-SARSAT to the Taipei Mission Control Center (TAMCC).
The center then verifies if the signals are sent from Taiwan, Yu said, adding that the TAMCC then alerts the National Rescue Command Center of the Executive Yuan so rescuers can identify the location of the locator beacon signal and launch an investigation. Users of PLBs, however, need to register their information with the TAMCC first so that the device can be used effectively.
Prior to the amendment of the regulations, the commission said that people needed to apply for a license to use PLBs and the commission then forwarded the information to the TAMCC.
Now people can register their PLB information at the TAMCC directly, provided the commission has certified the device is safe.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS