Chunghwa Telecom should reconsider its international roaming service agreement with China Unicom Hong Kong, as the service has become a loophole in the government’s efforts to curb telephone scams and safeguard national security, the National Communications Commission (NCC) said yesterday.
The regulator has proposed an amendment to the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法) after prepaid cards sold by China Unicom Hong Kong, also known as “blackberry cards,” were found to have been used to commit fraud in Taiwan.
NCC Vice Chairman and spokesman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said that blackberry cards allow people to access telecom services in Taiwan using Hong Kong phone numbers and international roaming services, but they cannot use the cards when they are in Hong Kong, which does not meet the principles of fairness and reciprocity in telecom services.
Photo: Yang Mien-chieh, Taipei Times
People who buy blackberry cards online are not obligated to present two forms of identification as they do when they apply for telecom services in Taiwan, contravening the act, Wong said.
“If any of these telephone numbers on blackberry cards are involved in fraud, or telecom service operators were found to have evaded the Telecommunications Management Act when offering roaming services, telecom services would be suspended immediately,” he said.
The commission has suspended 250,000 phone numbers on blackberry cards in Taiwan, he said, adding that more cards are expected to be suspended based on tips from prosecutors’ offices across the nation.
Last month, the NCC proposed amendments to articles 37 and 69 of the act that would require telecoms to disclose roaming services with other countries in their business plans.
Meanwhile, international roaming services must not compromise consumers’ interests or national security, nor disrupt social order, or telecoms would be fined NT$500,000 to NT$5 million (US$15,392 to US$153,922 ) for failing to thoroughly carry out their business plans, Wong said.
The amendments would also impose stricter regulations on the use of phone numbers, he said.
Chunghwa Telecom is the only telecom in Taiwan that still has a one-way roaming agreement with China Unicom Hong Kong, he said.
“We hope that the company — Taiwan’s largest telecom — exercises self-discipline in this matter,” Wong said. “The business model of the card is problematic, offering one-way roaming services using a Hong Kong number. While Hong Kong has a real-name system to process applications for telecom services, the mechanism is not available when Taiwanese purchase the cards online.”
The roaming services, which are provided by China Unicom Hong Kong and Chunghwa Telecom, have become a loophole after the government began a massive crackdown on telecom fraud, he said.
Chunghwa Telecom should answer questions on how it plans to continue maintaining its partnership with Hong Kong carriers while safeguarding consumer interests and national security, Wong said.
Chunghwa Telecom later rejected the NCC’s allegations that it is not part of the government’s efforts to combat fraud.
“We have informed China Unicom Hong Kong that only users whose identifications have been verified can access roaming services in Taiwan. Since August, we have blocked 25,500 SIM cards from roaming in Taiwan. Last month, we informed Hong Kong telecom that we would terminate the roaming service contract with them,” it said.
Its international roaming service contract with China Unicom Hong Kong was signed in accordance with the guidelines of the Global System for Mobile Communications Association, it said, adding that it would ask its overseas service partners to help block and terminate roaming services and stop sales of phone cards once they are informed about fraud.
“We are committed to protecting our country and our people by identifying, preventing, blocking and stopping fraud,” the company said.
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