The National Communications Commission (NCC) is to measure the transmission speeds of 5G services in the first quarter of next year, it said on Thursday, adding that the results would be published in 2023.
The commission has yet to test the speed of 5G services offered by Taiwan’s five major telecoms since the services were launched last year.
Commission Chief Secretary Chen Chung-shu (陳崇樹) said that the agency is still finalizing its methodology to measure speeds, as well as the way it would present the results.
“Most 5G services around the world use a non-standalone model, meaning that part of the service would still be offered through 4G cell stations,” Chen said. “Through a strategic partnership agreement, Asia-Pacific Telecom uses the 5G spectrum and network owned and built by Far EasTone Telecommunications. Under these situations, we have to figure out proper ways to present the results of a speed test.”
Results of the annual mobile telecommunications speed tests are an important guide for people when choosing data providers.
Telecoms use the results to highlight their advantages.
In other news, telecoms would soon obtain incentive subsidies from the government to accelerate installation of 5G cell stations after the commission finishes inspections next month.
The Executive Yuan has allocated NT$9.9 billion to NT$15.4 billion (US$357.53 million to US$556.16 million) this year and NT$5.5 billion next year to reward 5G operators who build more cell stations than they had pledged in their business plan.
In March, the commission promulgated rules governing the distribution of subsidies.
“In August, we distributed about NT$2.9 billion of this year’s budget after we reviewed firms’ cell station construction plans,” NCC Vice Chairman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said.
“We are to verify whether they have achieved what they promised, with the survey to be completed by the end of next month,” Wong said, adding that telecoms could receive full subsidies for this year in second half of November.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
Fast food chain McDonald's is to raise prices by up to NT$5 on some products at its restaurants across Taiwan, starting on Wednesday next week, the company announced today. The prices of all extra value meals and sharing boxes are to increase by NT$5, while breakfast combos and creamy corn soup would go up by NT$3, the company said in a statement. The price of the main items of those meals, if ordered individually, would remain the same. Meanwhile, the price of a medium-sized lemon iced tea and hot cappuccino would rise by NT$3, extra dipping sauces for chicken nuggets would go up
Yangmingshan National Park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) nature area has gone viral after a park livestream camera observed a couple in the throes of intimate congress, which was broadcast live on YouTube, drawing large late-night crowds and sparking a backlash over noise, bright lights and disruption to wildlife habitat. The area’s livestream footage appeared to show a couple engaging in sexual activity on a picnic table in the park on Friday last week, with the uncensored footage streamed publicly online. The footage quickly spread across social media, prompting a tide of visitors to travel to the site to “check in” and recreate the
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not