The National Communications Commission (NCC) officially began to operate yesterday as the country's communication and telecommunications authority after a ceremony in which seals were exchanged.
The completion of the ceremony enables the organization to begin sending official correspondence to other government organizations and start working on administrative issues.
Government officials, legislators and some of the nation's biggest telecommunications service operators also participated in the ceremony.
Minister Without Portfolio Wu Feng-shan (
Wu noted that the process leading to the NCC's establishment had been marked by controversy, with legislators sparring over the legislation that defined the commission's structure and scope.
"Despite all this, the public continues to have high expectations for the NCC," Wu said.
Some of the more urgent cases the new commission will consider include possible requests for compensation by TV stations, such as Eastern TV, whose operating licenses were revoked after failing evaluations performed by the Government Information Office (GIO).
The GIO was formerly in charge of overseeing broadcasters.
The GIO's order, however, was overruled on the grounds that the evaluation was flawed.
NCC Chairman Su Yoeng-chin (
He called on the public to support the commission, saying its ability to function as an independent organization depended on this.
Minister Without Portfolio Lin Ferng-ching (
In that time, 23 meetings were held to discuss administrative issues while 53 meetings were held to focus on legal issues, he said.
"We could not wait until the NCC started to do everything," Lin said.
He said a telecommunications technology center had also been set up to assist the commission on technical issues, and that a budget has been designated for the center's operation.
Initially, the NCC's headquarters will be in one of the buildings of the Directorate General of Telecommunications (DGT), with branch offices in the GIO and other DGT locations.
Su also said the law does not prevent legislators from nominating new members to the NCC.
Only nine members presently serve on the commission, which is mandated to have 13.
Three members resigned after their candidacy was approved by the legislature, while one quit before that.
The lack of telecommunications industry representatives on the commission would not be an issue for the time being, Su said, given that technical support was being provided by the DGT.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS