A proposal by the National Communications Commission (NCC) to conditionally allow cable service operators to raise their monthly subscription fees drew a lukewarm response at a public hearing yesterday, with industry representatives saying it would neither help boost revenues nor increase digital cable service’s penetration rate.
The government has set a goal of digitizing all cable television services by the end of this year. All cable television service operators are obligated to offer a la carte pricing starting in 2017, with subscribers choosing from various service packages priced at different rates instead of the current practice of offering a flat rate for a fixed service package.
As a reward to operators that meet the government’s digitalization goal before the deadline, the commission has proposed a “transitional clause” that allows cable service operators to raise their subscription fees, provided they meet five main conditions.
One of the conditions is that subscribers must be able to choose from at least three different service plans — and one of the service plans must be available at a price lower than the flat rate that consumers pay now.
Commission statistics put the average cable service subscription fee at NT$536.70 (US$17.80) per month, with the cap set at NT$600.
HYA Cable TV chairman Wu Chen-lung (吳振隆) said he did not think that implementing the “transitional clause” between now and 2017 for what the commission perceives as “frontrunners” is necessary.
HYA Cable TV, which services Greater Tainan, is the only operator in the country offering 100 percent digital service.
“The nation has yet to reach 100 percent penetration rate for digital cable service, nor has the nation reached a consensus on a la carte pricing for cable services. Under the circumstances, it is unnecessary to introduce a transitional clause,” Wu said.
“In my opinion, very few cable operators will be able to provide full digital services before 2017. In that case, the government should not spend so many resources on operators for complying with the government’s policy,” he added.
Wu said the conditions that the commission has set make the policy a “punishment” rather than a “reward,” as it would affect cable operators’ negotiations with television channel owners.
“The commission says that one of the service packages must be lower than the current price that cable operators offer, which is NT$515 in our case. My question is how much lower we should go before the commission is satisfied. Should we charge NT$5, NT$10 or NT$20 less?” Wu asked.
The price per channel is determined by the number of subscribers, and prices go up when there are few subscribers, Wu said.
If the price of one service package drops by taking out some channels, the cost of offering another package including those channels would rise instead, which would not help raise revenues either, he said.
Wu questioned how many operators would actually take the incentive, as they can all choose not to offer digital service at all and still get monthly revenues.
May Chen (陳依玫), a representative of TVBS, said the network has spent nearly NT$2 billion providing high-definition content, but the commission’s constant policy changes only contribute to uncertainty in the industry.
Chi Hsiao-cheng (紀效正), deputy director of the commission’s planning department, said that while the commission understands the dilemma facing cable operators like HYA, it must also listen to consumers’ demands that they only pay for television channels that they watch regularly.
Chi added that the commission’s “reward” would only go to those that provide all-digital services before 2017.
“We are considering if these operators can be given more flexibility in the way they set the service rate. Based on current regulations, they can only propose one flat rate and have it approved by the government,” Chi said.
The commission would take all the opinions at the hearing into consideration before making a final decision, he added.
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