The National Communications Commission (NCC) is to set up a special task force to monitor the situation when two telecom mergers take effect next month, it said yesterday.
Taiwan Star is to merge with Taiwan Mobile on Friday next week, while Asia Pacific Telecom (APT) is to merge with Far EasTone Telecommunications (FET) on Dec. 15. Taiwan Star and APT, which have 2.48 million and 1.99 million subscribers respectively, would cease to exist after the mergers.
Taiwan Star subscribers would not need to change their SIM cards for now unless they want to subscribe to other value-added services offered by Taiwan Mobile, NCC Vice Chairman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said.
Photo: Taipei Times file
APT subscribers would have to change their SIM cards after the merger, as the telecom uses the core network built by Nokia and FET uses Ericsson’s, Wong said, adding that FET should notify APT subscribers of the need to change their SIM cards.
“The synergy produced through telecom mergers should help enhance the quality of telecom services available to customers,” Wong said. “We hope that subscribers of the two new telecom companies would notice significant differences in terms of Internet speed and telecom service coverage before the end of January, otherwise [the telecoms] will be at the receiving end of subscribers’ fury.”
The task force would monitor whether Taiwan Mobile and FET offer reasonable monthly plans and follow their own time lines for changing subscribers’ SIM cards, or whether the mergers lead to any telecom service disruptions, Wong said.
Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan Mobile and FET were in 2018 fined by the NCC for the chaos that broke out at their retail stores after they collectively offered a telecom service plan for NT$499 per month. The commission received numerous complaints about people having to wait hours to apply for the service plan.
Asked whether the commission is concerned about further chaos when subscribers collect new SIM cards at the telecoms’ stores, Wong said that the scenario is unlikely to happen.
“Given what happened in 2018, the telecoms should know by now that they need to offer subscribers multiple ways to change their SIM cards, instead of only allowing them to do so at retail stores. They need to find ways for people who have trouble leaving the house, live in remote areas or simply do not have time to change SIM cards,” Wong said.
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