The Ministry of Digital Affairs on Friday announced that it has selected the Telecom Technology Center (TTC) to head a project to improve the resilience of the nation’s digital communications network.
The ministry said it had asked research and academic institutions to submit proposals on “response or wartime applications of new technology to strengthen digital communications resilience,” including through the use of non-geostationary satellite Internet.
Following deliberations by ministry-associated academics, it on Friday announced that it had signed a contract with the TTC on Thursday and granted the budget for the project to the center.
Photo: Hsu Tzu-ling, Taipei Times
Under the terms of the contract, the TTC is required to set up 11 terminals for non-geostationary satellite Internet and five links for cellular satellite backhauls across Taiwan by the end of the year.
The TTC must also establish 21 satellite Internet terminals and nine backhaul links in Taiwan, along with one terminal in a foreign country for testing purposes by the end of the first quarter of next year.
In total, the center is to set up more than 700 domestic terminals, three overseas terminals and 70 links by the end of next year, the ministry said.
The infrastructure would likely first be installed in outlying counties and places lacking diverse wireless network gateways, it said.
The project would also stress test the emergency application capabilities of disaster warning systems, roaming functionality and information security infrastructure, it added.
This is designed to ensure that the government can retain considerable communication capabilities during times of disaster or war.
It said it encouraged non-geostationary satellite systems equipment providers to seek partnership opportunities with the TTC.
The ministry also addressed a Bloomberg report that said Taiwan would need low Earth orbit satellite networks to maintain Internet connectivity in the event of a Chinese invasion.
As telecommunications companies providing such networks are required to have no Chinese investment — and less than 49 percent direct foreign ownership or 60 percent indirect foreign shareholders — most current suppliers would be ineligible, the ministry said.
While foreign companies might still provide satellite communications by working with a domestic telecom to bypass the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法), the ministry would still have to heavily scrutinize such companies when approving rights to Taiwan’s radio frequencies.
The firms would have to be strictly examined by national security and cross-strait agencies to guarantee that satellite providers working with domestic telecoms are not controlled by the Chinese government, it said.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS