The 5G service coverage rate is expected to reach 80 percent by 2024, National Communications Commission (NCC) Chairman Chen Yaw-shyang (陳耀祥) said in a briefing to the legislature’s Transportation Committee in Taipei yesterday.
The committee was scheduled to review the commission’s budget plan for fiscal 2021.
Chen told lawmakers that the government received a total of NT$142.19 billion (US$4.92 billion) in February through a two-phase auction that it held for telecom carriers to bid for 5G spectrum, adding that the three major telecoms — Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan Mobile and Far EasTone Telecommunications — started offering the service in June.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Of the funds that the government obtained through the auction, NT$26.65 billion would be allocated to subsidize telecom carriers in building base stations for five years.
The rules governing the appropriation of subsidies to carriers would be publicly disclosed by the end of this year, Chen said.
“We are still discussing how the subsidies should be distributed among carriers,” he said. “Some have suggested that the amount of subsidy that each carrier receives should be determined by where they build the cell stations — in rural or urban areas. Others have suggested that we appropriate the funds based on the bids they paid.”
Part of the subsidies would help telecom carriers build 490 base stations in five years in remote townships, he said.
The 5G service coverage rate is at about 26 percent now, and the subsidies can help reinforce telecoms infrastructure in both urban and rural areas and accelerate the developments of applications using 5G systems, he added.
The commission also estimated that the nation’s 5G service coverage rate would reach 80 percent based on the speed at which carriers are expanding their base station infrastructure.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS