The National Communications Commission (NCC) has drafted guidelines for “disaster roaming” that would allow mobile users to access other networks free of roaming charges during emergencies such as earthquakes and typhoons.
Under the draft plan, users unable to connect to their usual network would not be charged roaming-related costs, such as interconnection fees, for accessing alternative networks for calls or mobile data.
Under the plan all costs to be handled by telecom operators.
Photo: Fang Wei-chieh, Taipei Times
The NCC is expected to release the full draft as early as next week, including conditions for activation, termination and cost allocation.
The announcement comes after Typhoon Danas in July heavily disrupted mobile connections in southern Taiwan.
In August, the NCC reached a consensus with relevant agencies and telecom operators to launch a pilot “disaster roaming” program.
The pilot began on Aug. 7 in Tainan’s Cigu District (七股), Chiayi County’s Budai Township (布袋) and the surrounding areas, and is expected to end on Friday next week.
Under the plan, during disasters, users would be able to automatically or manually connect to other network providers to continue making calls or using mobile data.
Disaster roaming may be activated when more than 10 percent or at least five of a telecom operator’s base stations are damaged in a single administrative district, and connection cannot be 90 percent restored within three days, the draft says.
Once the Central Emergency Operation Center gives the order, the NCC is to notify telecom operators to initiate the function.
The roaming period would be limited to 30 days, but may end sooner if more than 90 percent of damaged base stations in the area are restored.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
The National Immigration Agency has banned two Chinese from returning to Taiwan, after they published social media content it described as disrespectful to national sovereignty. The agency imposed a two-month ban on a Chinese man surnamed Liang (梁) and a permanent ban on a woman surnamed Yang (楊), an influencer with 23 million followers, in October last year and last week respectively. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) yesterday said on the sidelines of a legislative meeting that Chinese visitors to Taiwan are required to comply with the rules and regulations governing their entry permits. The government has handled the ban and
RSS