The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday dismissed claims that it has not been cracking down hard enough on illegally installed telecom service base stations, adding that an average of 100 such violations were reported per month over the past five years.
The commission’s remarks came after a court in Kaohsiung ruled in favor of residents opposed to a Chunghwa Telecom Co base station erected inside a public housing building on the grounds that it was detrimental to their health.
The court found that even though the plaintiffs had failed to prove that the base station — illegally installed by the company in 2009 — had damaged their health, their concerns that electromagnetic waves transmitted by the station could be detrimental had caused fear and stress exceeding any normal person’s emotional limit and infringed their right to the quiet enjoyment of their property.
The court ordered Chunghwa to compensate the plaintiffs a total of NT$225,000 (US$6,868).
The case is the first in the nation in which a court sided with residential plaintiffs and against a telecom firm. The company said it would study the verdict and would likely appeal the ruling.
Commission spokesperson Yu Hsiao-cheng (虞孝成) said that telecoms should follow the commission’s procedures requiring them to apply to install base stations, rather than illegally installing them as a way to quickly expand their coverage area.
The public should not be overly concerned about potential health hazards of electromagnetic waves emitted by telecom base stations because each nation sets standards to regulate such waves, Yu said.
Cellphones are used by 6 billion people worldwide, and the WHO had listed electromagnet waves as just one possible carcinogen to humans, along with coffee and pickled vegetables, he said, adding that the WHO has yet to produce solid evidence that cellphone use could damage human health in the long run.
Yu said the commission has cracked down on more than 100 illegal base stations per year for the past five years, collecting more than NT$250 million in fines.
Telecom companies can be fined NT$500,000 for each violation, although they are not penalized until the fifth offenses.
Telecoms face a lot of problems when they want to install cellphone base stations in an apartment building, because they first have to secure the consent of the building’s management committee.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
RSS