The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday asked Taiwan Mobile’s management to explain next week why it has been offering services using the excess bandwidth in frequency bands below 1 Gigahertz (GHz) past Sunday’s deadline, after the commission had twice denied the company’s request for an extension.
The nation’s three large telecoms are permitted to have no more than 50 megahertz (MHz) in frequency bands below 1GHz, which can produce radio waves that have higher penetration and diffraction capabilities and enable telecoms to broaden the service coverage of 5G systems.
Taiwan Mobile obtained 60MHz in highly sought-after frequency bands due to its merger with Taiwan Star Telecom, which the commission approved last year on the condition that by Sunday Taiwan Mobile return the excess bandwidth of 10MHz to the government, or sell or transfer it to other telecoms.
Photo: Tsai Ssu-pei, Taipei Times
Taiwan Mobile challenged the NCC ruling at the High Court last year, saying that the excess bandwidth should not be returned to the government free of charge.
It also twice requested an extension to use the excess bandwidth, both of which were denied by the NCC.
The Ministry of Digital Affairs, which plans and regulates the use of frequency bands, yesterday told reporters that it has yet to receive Taiwan Mobile’s application to return the excess bandwidth, adding that it would work with the NCC to ensure that the telecom complies.
NCC officials said that they have ascertained that Taiwan Mobile has been using the excess bandwidth to provide services through three methods: using radio wave monitoring stations, dispatching personnel to conduct tests around base stations and administering inspections of the telecom’s network management center.
The telecom could be fined NT$500,000 to NT$5 million (US$15,322 to US$153,224) if it is determined to have contravened the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法) by failing to strictly adhere to the network construction plan it submitted to the NCC, commission officials said.
“The telecom would be given one more chance to make a statement before the commission makes a final ruling on the case,” the regulator said.
In other news, the NCC commissioners reached a unanimous decision to streamline evaluations of television channels, but the new rule does not apply to shopping networks, local channels or channels that produce news, financial news, stock market reports, children’s programs or X-rated content.
It would also not apply to channels that have records of breaching broadcast media regulations in the first three years of the licensing period.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS