While the nation’s three main telecoms are launching 5G service this week, Taiwan is not going to see a large-scale migration from 4G to 5G, given the scarcity of smartphone models that can support the service, National Communications Commission (NCC) officials said yesterday.
Chunghwa Telecom and Taiwan Mobile launched their 5G services on Tuesday, while Far Eastone Telecommunications (FET) is scheduled to launch its service tomorrow.
Their 5G service plans are about the same as what they offered when 4G hit the market, with some offering unlimited data plans for NT$1,399 per month.
Photo: Wu Po-wei, Taipei Times
The fees are the lowest in the world, compared with other nations where 5G service is available, NCC chief secretary Hsiao Chi-hung (蕭祈宏) said.
Only five smartphones that can support 5G service have been certified by the commission and are available on the market: three Samsung Galaxy X20 series phones, the Sony Xperia 1 II and the LG V60 ThinQ.
More 5G smartphones are expected to hit the market in the second half of this year, Hsiao said, adding that Samsung has four more 5G smartphone models that have been certified by the commission.
Samsung Taiwan announced that its Galaxy A51 and A71 smartphones, which both support 5G service, were certified by the commission yesterday and would hit the market in the second half of this month.
Sharp Taiwan is scheduled to present its Sharp Aquos R5G smartphone today.
The Nikkei Asian Review yesterday reported that Apple is trying to reduce production delays for its first 5G iPhone.
It is facing delays of four weeks to two months for its four 5G iPhone models and had previously postponed their launch until next year, the report said.
A large-scale migration from the 4G to the 5G service would not happen until new 5G iPhones are launched, NCC officials said, adding that the estimation was made based on observations from the launch of 4G services.
Many consumer apps can still be produced and accessed through the 4G system, they said.
“So far, telecoms have mainly targeted corporate customers, which would create apps requiring larger bandwidth,” they said.
The Executive Yuan has designated the frequency band between 4.8 gigahertz and 4.9 gigahertz for private firms to develop a 5G network, which would be opened for applications next year and in 2022, the commission said.
Meanwhile, an online poll by text messaging app Line on whether consumers would be motivated by the launch of 5G service to buy 5G smartphones found that more than 60 percent of respondents said they would not by a new phone to be able to access a 5G service.
About 30 percent said they would consider changing their phones, and 10 percent said they would change their phones to access a 5G service.
Line said about 34,000 of its app users cast votes in the poll.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS