Taiwan would have 24-hour access to low Earth orbit satellites by the end of this month through service provided by Eutelsat OneWeb as part of the nation’s effort to enhance signal resilience, a Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) official said yesterday.
Earlier this year the Ministry of Digital Affairs, which partnered with Chunghwa Telecom on a two-year project to boost signal resilience throughout the nation, said it reached a milestone when it made contact with OneWeb’s satellites half of the time.
It expects to have the capability to maintain constant contact with the satellites and have nationwide coverage by the end of this month, Chunghwa Telecom copresident Alex Chien (簡志誠) said.
Photo: CNA
To ensure that the nation’s communication network can operate through non-geosynchronous satellites, a network that incorporates satellite equipment has been installed in Taiwan and other countries, as well as low and medium orbit satellites, he said.
The low orbit satellites are operated by OneWeb, while the medium orbit satellites are operated by satellite provider SES, he said.
“For the satellite system to operate normally, it requires three major elements: satellites in the sky, terminal equipment and ground receiving stations. All three are indispensable,” he said.
The terminal equipment used in the network includes 700 sites in Taiwan and abroad, and the ground receiving stations are set up in Japan, Thailand and Guam, he said.
“Initially there were some problems with the ground receiving station in Thailand, but OneWeb has solved the issue,” he said.
However, operating ground equipment at the sites requires trained personnel, and the ministry hopes to have the system ready by the end of the year, he said.
As for whether the network could be used by Taiwan’s business community, Chien said that since satellites have less bandwidth, most corporate customers would still use submarine cables with their larger bandwidths.
However, the satellite-based system could still be used as a backup for businesses, he said.
Department of Communications and Cyber Resilience Director-General Cheng Ming-tsung (鄭明宗) previously said that after obtaining complete coverage, which includes Taiwan proper, as well as outlying islands and counties, “we no longer need to be afraid of natural disasters or other emergencies that could knock out our communications.”
“If systems are broken, we can still provide the military and political bodies with communications through satellites,” he said. “We can make emergency calls and conduct command and dispatch.”
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
COORDINATION, ASSURANCE: Separately, representatives reintroduced a bill that asks the state department to review guidelines on how the US engages with Taiwan US senators on Tuesday introduced the Taiwan travel and tourism coordination act, which they said would bolster bilateral travel and cooperation. The bill, proposed by US senators Marsha Blackburn and Brian Schatz, seeks to establish “robust security screenings for those traveling to the US from Asia, open new markets for American industry, and strengthen the economic partnership between the US and Taiwan,” they said in a statement. “Travel and tourism play a crucial role in a nation’s economic security,” but Taiwan faces “pressure and coercion from the Chinese Communist Party [CCP]” in this sector, the statement said. As Taiwan is a “vital trading
RSS