The No. 2 undersea cable connecting Taiwan proper and Lienchiang County (Matsu) broke at multiple points yesterday, causing a complete outage, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today.
The ministry requested that Chunghwa Telecom, which owns and operates all 10 domestic undersea cables in Taiwan, activate its backup microwave system so that communications can continue as normal, it said.
Undersea cables are Taiwan’s “digital lifeline,” transmitting electricity and information to offshore islands and other countries.
Photo: Taipei Times
There are three undersea cables connecting Taiwan with Matsu, although the No. 2 and No. 3 cables are the most heavily used.
There were breakages in the No. 2 cable on Oct. 3 last year and on Jan. 22 due to age, but other functioning cables were able to maintain communications between Taiwan and Matsu, the ministry said.
The cable, which had already been scheduled for repairs, experienced another break yesterday, resulting in a complete outage due to an increased number of faults, Chunghwa Telecom reported to the National Communications and Cyber Security Center.
The No. 3 cable was completely severed on Jan. 15.
The ministry has coordinated with the cable repair ship to expedite repairs of both cables, it said.
Repairs on the No. 3 and No. 2 cables are expected to be completed by the end of this month and next month respectively, Chunghwa Telecom said.
Activating the backup microwave system would allow communication and Internet services to continue as normal, the ministry said.
The microwave bandwidth of 12.6Gbps, which is higher than the usual peak traffic of 9.5Gbps in Matsu, would prioritize communication services for government agencies, banks, hospitals and other critical infrastructure, the ministry said.
This would ensure that essential services such as ATM withdrawals, credit card transactions and online transactions would not be interrupted while the cables are being repaired, it said.
The ministry also requested the Executive Yuan designate the Taiwan-Matsu undersea cables as critical infrastructure, it said.
To improve communication stability between offshore islands, the government would build asynchronous satellite stations and subsidize telecom operators to increase microwave capacity and construct a No. 4 Taiwan-Matsu cable, the ministry said.
The No. 4 cable is expected to be completed by the middle of next year, Chunghwa Telecom said.
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
ENHANCING EFFICIENCY: The apron can accommodate 16 airplanes overnight at Taoyuan airport while work on the third runway continues, the transport minister said A new temporary overnight parking apron at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to start operating on Friday next week to boost operational efficiency while the third runway is being constructed, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The apron — one of the crucial projects in the construction of the third runway — can accommodate 16 aircraft overnight at the nation’s largest international airport, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told reporters while inspecting the new facility yesterday morning. Aside from providing the airport operator with greater flexibility in aircraft parking during the third runway construction,
American climber Alex Honnold is to attempt a free climb of Taipei 101 today at 9am, with traffic closures around the skyscraper. To accommodate the climb attempt and filming, the Taipei Department of Transportation said traffic controls would be enforced around the Taipei 101 area. If weather conditions delay the climb, the restrictions would be pushed back to tomorrow. Traffic controls would be in place today from 7am to 11am around the Taipei 101 area, the department said. Songzhi Road would be fully closed in both directions between Songlian Road and Xinyi Road Sec 5, it said, adding that bidirectional traffic controls would
RSS