An a-la-carte scheme for cable TV services will be implemented by 2017, National Communications Commission (NCC) Chairperson Howard Shyr (石世豪) said yesterday, adding that options are not limited to the ones that have been suggested by the commission.
Shyr made the statement while visiting cable television providers in Chiayi and Greater Tainan, where digital cable television subscription rates are higher than the national average.
Commission statistics show that the national digital cable service penetration rate was 38.95 percent in the third quarter of this year. However, the penetration rate in Chiayi was 55.48 percent and in Greater Tainan it was 57 percent.
The statistics proved to be a surprise to some, as most people had expected the north to be more interested in digital cable service.
Shyr met with the management of Kuo-Shen Cable TV and Shih-Hsin Cable TV, two of the main cable operators in Chiayi, who showed how they have tailored their services to meet the needs of elderly people in the community.
“We will definitely implement [an a la carte scheme], but the business models would be closely aligned with the needs of cable television service subscribers in different regions,” he said.
Cable subscribers pay a fixed fee of between NT$490 and NT$590 per month and more than 100 channels are available.
The commission set a goal of increasing the penetration rate of digital cable service to 100 percent by 2016. From 2017, cable service providers must include one package containing all the basic channels for a maximum of NT$200 per month and at least three other basic packages priced between NT$100 and NT$130 each.
If customers choose a combination of the basic channel packages, rates would be capped at NT$500 per month, with the aggregate number of basic channels not being less than what is currently available.
Shyr said the commission never said the four pricing plans it had proposed were the only options available for cable providers, adding that it has found other plans that can solve the urgent problems facing service provides and give consumers more flexibility in choosing a service plan.
“[Promoting the a-la-carte scheme] is not just a matter of technology or capital. It is about interacting with consumers and gaining their trust,” Shyr added. “Consumers would not only be able to accept a new service, but will also be given back the right to choose quality programming.”
Shyr said that the digital cable TV service and a la carte service scheme would enable service operators to provide more value-added services. This would gradually reduce the percentage of revenue gathered from the audience, which would in turn mean that consumers pay a more reasonable fee for cable television.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
RSS