The National Communications Commission (NCC) is to begin accepting applications in June from telecoms planning to offer low-Earth orbit satellite services.
The commission reached the decision after approving draft rules governing the appropriation and assignment of radio frequency bands for satellite communications in its weekly meeting on Wednesday.
The rules are to be open for public scrutiny for 60 days, NCC Vice Chairman and spokesman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said, adding that the commission would host information sessions next month or in May to gather opinions before announcing the finalized rules.
Photo: Yang Mien-chieh, Taipei Times
Industry observers attributed the commission’s accelerated timeline to complete the regulatory framework for low-Earth orbit satellite services to the activity of people caught up in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainians have been able to upload videos and photographs of war zones to the Internet through satellites provided by Starlink, a unit of Elon Musk’s SpaceX Corp.
Satellite communications can be backup channels for public telecommunications networks, and reinforce links at sea, as well as on outlying islands and in mountainous areas, the commission said, adding that the technology would greatly lower the costs of universal telecommunications services.
The Executive Yuan has released four additional frequency bands for use by geostationary and non-geostationary satellite communications service providers: 10.7 to 12.7 gigahertz (GHz), 13.75 to 14.5GHz, 17.7 to 20.2GHz and 27.5 to 30 GHz.
The 27.9 to 29.5GHz band is used by Chunghwa Telecom, Far EasTone Telecommunications, Asia Pacific Telecom and Taiwan Mobile for 5G.
Satellite service operators that plan to acquire bandwidth must reach agreements with the telecoms to avoid interference between the two systems, the commission said.
To be eligible, applicants must be telecoms registered in Taiwan and managed by Taiwanese, the commission said.
Direct shareholding by foreigners must not exceed 49 percent, while indirect shareholding by foreigners is limited to 60 percent, it said.
Operators can only launch services after their networks pass NCC scrutiny, it said.
Foreign operators can form partnerships with Taiwanese telecoms to file applications, it said.
Three overseas low-Earth orbit satellite operators were reported to have inquired about regulations in Taiwan: SpaceX, One Web and Telesat.
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