Telecoms have been asked to provide solutions after poor reception was identified as the No. 1 source of consumer complaints that the National Communications Commission (NCC) received in the first quarter this year.
From January to March, the commission received 1,234 complaints related to telecom service, down from 1,281 during the same quarter last year, NCC statistics show.
However, 771 of the complaints in the first quarter were related to reception of telecom services, with 64.59 percent being about poor reception that users experienced at home or at work.
Photo: Yang Mien-chieh, Taipei Times
Meanwhile, changes in telecom service contracts and subscriber service were identified as the second and third-biggest sources of complaints, accounting for 11 percent and 8 percent respectively, the NCC said.
The three telecoms that received the most complaints were Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan Star and Taiwan Mobile, with 32.41 percent, 19.53 percent and 18.48 percent of the complaints.
Consumers who complained about poor indoor reception often asked telecoms to reduce their monthly service fees or improve the reception immediately, the commission said, adding that some demanded that their service contracts be terminated.
The commission offered two possible explanations for poor indoor reception.
“Transmission of electromagnetic waves could be hindered by buildings or topography, depending on where base stations were installed,” it said.
Another reason might be that a telecom removed a base station after residents in the area complained about it, but failed to find a different location nearby to reinstall it, it said.
“We have asked telecoms to conduct tests at locations where a majority of complaints took place and offer solutions accordingly,” the NCC said. “If consumers complain about poor reception, telecoms are advised to give consumers a rebate or allow them to terminate service contracts early while they find ways to address the problem, such as quickly installing a new base station.”
Telecoms should inform consumers that they have a seven-day free trial period for any telecom service they plan to subscribe to, the commission said.
Telecoms are obligated to disclose their service coverage areas to consumers, it said, adding that such information should be available in their retail stores and on their Web sites.
Telecoms must also disclose exactly what their service entails based on the “Telecommunication Service Quality Items and Formats,” which was published on April 8 last year, the NCC said.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai