Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) yesterday urged the National Communications Commission (NCC) to deal fairly with a spectrum dispute, as Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) would own a bigger slice of prime frequency band than regulations allow following the acquisition of a smaller rival.
The commission is to hold two public hearings tomorrow and on Sunday to address potential problems related to Far EasTone’s acquisition of Asia Pacific Telecom Co (亞太電信) and the merger between Taiwan Mobile and Taiwan Star Telecom Corp (台灣之星).
Taiwan Mobile’s merger would give it a combined 60 megahertz (MHz) of the 5G spectrum in the 1 gigahertz (GHz) band, surpassing the upper limit of one-third, or 50MHz, of the total auctioned spectrum of 150MHz, as the Regulations for Administration of Mobile Broadband Businesses (行動寬頻業務管理規則) stipulate.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan Mobile said the restrictions would be unreasonable after the nation’s telecommunications market again becomes dominated by the three major operators.
It suggested that the commission relax the rules and raise the limit to 40 percent.
It added that it would continue fighting for the right to retain the 10MHz spectrum in exchange for offering services that benefit the public, such as deploying more 5G base stations in rural areas.
Far EasTone and Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) have called on Taiwan Mobile to abide by the regulations and return the 10MHz to the government for a second auction, or other arrangements.
“Our rival would own a bigger spectrum than the rules stipulate. That will have a big impact,” Far EasTone president Chee Ching (井琪) told reporters on the sidelines of a press conference in Taipei.
With a larger spectrum in the low-band, Taiwan Mobile would gain a competitive edge in cost, as the 1GHz band — dubbed the “golden frequency band” — would allow a wireless carrier to achieve a similar 5G network coverage by installing much fewer base stations, compared with those using a mid-band or high-band spectrum, Ching said.
Far EasTone has abided by related rules and invested heavily in acquiring 5G spectrum assets, Ching said, adding that it would make no sense if Taiwan Mobile were allowed to breach the rules and gain extra spectrum.
Far EasTone said it has deployed more than 700 base stations in remote areas, the most among local peers, to provide real-time information and healthcare delivery in Taitung and Hualien counties’ rural areas through 5G network.
The company has also helped incubate 20 local start-ups by launching applications using 5G and metaverse technologies, aiming to provide solutions for local businesses seeking to facilitate digital transformation, it said.
The solutions developed by the start-ups could create about NT$70 million (US$2.2 million) in production value, it said.
Far EasTone launched its first 5G incubator last year and started its second one yesterday.
Semiconductor shares in China surged yesterday after Reuters reported the US had ordered chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to halt shipments of advanced chips to Chinese customers, which investors believe could accelerate Beijing’s self-reliance efforts. TSMC yesterday started to suspend shipments of certain sophisticated chips to some Chinese clients after receiving a letter from the US Department of Commerce imposing export restrictions on those products, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing an unnamed source. The US imposed export restrictions on TSMC’s 7-nanometer or more advanced designs, Reuters reported. Investors figured that would encourage authorities to support China’s industry and bought shares
FLEXIBLE: Taiwan can develop its own ground station equipment, and has highly competitive manufacturers and suppliers with diversified production, the MOEA said The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday disputed reports that suppliers to US-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) had been asked to move production out of Taiwan. Reuters had reported on Tuesday last week that Elon Musk-owned SpaceX had asked their manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan given geopolitical risks and that at least one Taiwanese supplier had been pushed to relocate production to Vietnam. SpaceX’s requests place a renewed focus on the contentious relationship Musk has had with Taiwan, especially after he said last year that Taiwan is an “integral part” of China, sparking sharp criticism from Taiwanese authorities. The ministry said
US President Joe Biden’s administration is racing to complete CHIPS and Science Act agreements with companies such as Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co, aiming to shore up one of its signature initiatives before US president-elect Donald Trump enters the White House. The US Department of Commerce has allocated more than 90 percent of the US$39 billion in grants under the act, a landmark law enacted in 2022 designed to rebuild the domestic chip industry. However, the agency has only announced one binding agreement so far. The next two months would prove critical for more than 20 companies still in the process
CHANGING JAPAN: Nvidia-powered AI services over cellular networks ‘will result in an artificial intelligence grid that runs across Japan,’ Nvidia’s Jensen Huang said Softbank Group Corp would be the first to build a supercomputer with chips using Nvidia Corp’s new Blackwell design, a demonstration of the Japanese company’s ambitions to catch up on artificial intelligence (AI). The group’s telecom unit, Softbank Corp, plans to build Japan’s most powerful AI supercomputer to support local services, it said. That computer would be based on Nvidia’s DGX B200 product, which combines computer processors with so-called AI accelerator chips. A follow-up effort will feature Grace Blackwell, a more advanced version, the company said. The announcement indicates that Softbank Group, which until early 2019 owned 4.9 percent of Nvidia, has secured a
RSS