Internet service in Lienchiang County is to be slower than usual after damage was sustained to both undersea cables that connect with the outlying county, Chunghwa Telecom Co said on Wednesday.
A backup microwave transmission system has restored voice, national security and critical communications to normal, the telecom said.
However, mobile service, broadband and on-demand media would be slow due to the disruption, it added.
Photo courtesy of Chunghwa Telecom
An emergency request has been sent for an international cable repair vessel, although a timeline is unavailable, it said.
Network speeds would be slow county-wide, regardless of whether customers use Chunghwa or another telecom, National Communications Commission (NCC) spokesman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said.
The NCC has received a report from Chunghwa about the situation and has requested that it restore services as soon as possible, Wong said.
However, it would take some time for the repair ship to arrive, so service would remain slow for a while, he added.
The disruption comes after Chunghwa Telecom reported a break in its No. 2 undersea telecom cable connecting Taiwan proper with Lienchiang County on Thursday last week.
A break was reported in the sea about 52km from the generator on Dongyin Island (東引), the terminus of the cable connected to New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), it said.
Service was automatically switched to the No. 3 cable, which runs from Taoyuan to Nangan Island (南竿), it said.
The No. 3 cable at 12:32pm on Wednesday was suspected to have been damaged by a freighter, downing both connections to the county, the telecom said.
These were not the only incidents in recent years. In 2021, a trawler damaged a telecom cable near the county.
Most of the incidents have occurred in the seas between Nangan and Juguang Township (莒光) due to fishing vessels and Chinese dredgers, Wong said.
However, this latest break happened between Lienchiang and Taiwan proper, he said, calling it unusual.
To prevent such disruptions, a fourth cable is in the works, with the second stage expected to be completed in 2025, Wong said.
The first cable is no longer in use.
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
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
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with
Taiwan-based publisher Li Yanhe (李延賀) has been sentenced to three years in prison, fined 50,000 yuan (US$6,890) in personal assets and deprived political rights for one year for “inciting secession” in China, China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said today. The Shanghai First Intermediate People’s Court announced the verdict on Feb. 17, Chen said. The trial was conducted lawfully, and in an open and fair manner, he said, adding that the verdict has since come into legal effect. The defendant reportedly admitted guilt and would appeal within the statutory appeal period, he said, adding that the defendant and his family have