National Communications Commission (NCC) Chairman Chen Yaw-shyang (陳耀祥) on Thursday said he would meet with telecom executives to discuss ways to increase the penetration rate of 5G services.
The nation’s five largest telecoms launched 5G services in June last year.
The commission later estimated that the 5G coverage rate would not reach 85 percent until 2025.
However, the telecoms’ average coverage was 78 percent in August, with one provider last month reaching the 85 percent target, NCC data showed.
The Executive Yuan’s Forward-Looking Infrastructure Development Program has contributed to the funding of 5G expansions.
A survey conducted by London-based mobile analytics firm OpenSignal last month showed that Taiwan’s 5G services are highly competitive compared with other countries.
The survey showed that Taiwan ranked first among the top 15 countries in peak download speed, at 963.2 megabits per second (Mbps), and average upload speed, at 58.9Mbps.
The average download speed was 370.6Mbps, the second-fastest among the top 15, it showed.
Despite the relatively high coverage rate and fast average speed, 5G service subscribers only accounted for 12.3 percent of all mobile phone users in August.
Chen briefed members of the legislature’s Transportation Committee about the slow uptake and ways to reach more users.
Lawmakers across party lines said that unlimited data plans for 5G Internet cost three times more than 4G plans, or about NT$1,399 per month
Meanwhile, telecoms have been focusing on installing more 5G base stations in heavily populated areas, particularly in the six special municipalities, resulting in diverging quality of service in urban and rural areas, lawmakers said.
There are few applications and services that can only be accessed through 5G, they added.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said the government has earmarked NT$26.6 billion (US$949.1 million) over five years to subsidize telecoms in installing 5G base stations, with about NT$14.5 billion scheduled to be paid out this year and next year.
“We should ask telecoms to comply with the government policy of raising the 5G usage rate by giving subscribers cheaper rates at the initial stage. This will help Taiwan become a true 5G nation earlier than scheduled,” Lin said.
Chen said he and other NCC officials would meet with telecoms in two weeks to discuss issues related to 5G services.
“We understand that telecoms have the right to set prices for the services they offer, but we will communicate with them about what we have heard from users,” he said.
So far this year, the commission has received 508 complaints over 5G services, with about 43 percent since July, he said.
NCC data showed that Taiwan has 105,754 4G base stations, but only 20,596 5G base stations.
Apart from residential areas, the commission estimated that 80,000 more 5G base stations would be needed to make the service available at airports, seaports and other strategic locations, and to facilitate the development of autonomous vehicles and other applications.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
RSS