Low and medium Earth orbit satellites have been used by the government for the first time to help rescue workers after last week’s large earthquake centered in Hualien County, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday.
The ministry dispatched to Hualien a truck equipped with equipment to link to low and medium Earth orbit satellites, as well as three OneWeb low Earth orbit satellites, to facilitate mobile communications among rescuers and residents, Minister of Digital Affairs Audrey Tang (唐鳳) said.
“Low Earth orbit satellites allowed residents in Hualien to access Wi-Fi services,” Tang said. “Even though OneWeb’s signal is yet to cover the disaster-stricken area, test results showed that the connections were better than what we had anticipated.”
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
OneWeb’s ground station in Guam has begun operations, she said, adding that ground stations in Japan and Thailand are scheduled to begin operating in the first half of this year.
Specialists from the ministry’s Telecom Technology Center said that the biggest breakthrough was combining the use of low and medium Earth orbit satellites to facilitate communications in the zones most badly affected by the earthquake, which measured 7.2 on the Richter scale.
The Tiansiang (天祥) Recreational Area in Taroko National Park is in a valley, so satellite connectivity there is sometimes blocked by mountains, the specialists said.
However, combining the two satellite systems allows multiple lines of sight, enabling adjustments when topography poses a challenge, they said.
The cost to build the satellite truck was about NT$8 million (US$249,844), while terminal equipment for the three low Earth orbit satellites cost NT$2.6 million, the ministry said.
Deputy Minister of Digital Affairs Herming Chiueh (闕河鳴) said that the ministry is seeking additional funding to upgrade some of the 105 mobile service trucks owned by telecoms to enable connectivity via non-geosynchronous satellites.
In other news, the National Communications Commission (NCC) said that there are still 36 mobile phone base stations yet to be repaired following damage they sustained during the earthquake, with 10 operated by Chunghwa Telecom, 15 by Taiwan Mobile and 11 by Far EasTone Telecommunications.
Nearly all of the damaged base stations are between Tiansiang and the Tunnel of Nine Turns (九曲洞) in Taroko, the commission said, adding that those west of Tiansiang have all been fixed.
“Base stations are not functioning because of power outages and that cannot be fixed if the roads to the facilities are inaccessible,” NCC Vice Chairman and spokesman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said.
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