The number of cable service subscribers fell to a record low 4.55 million in the third quarter of this year as increasingly more people switched from cable systems to other entertainment platforms, the National Communications Commission (NCC) said in its third quarterly report on the status of the communication service market.
The number was down 2.42 percent from the same quarter last year, the commission said, adding that the downward trend has persisted for 24 consecutive quarters.
The household penetration rate of cable services also slid below 50 percent to 49.42 percent, the data showed.
Photo: Yang Mien-chieh, Taipei Times
“Consumers’ viewing habits are indeed changing. However, there are not as many ‘cord cutters’ in Taiwan as in countries in Europe and North America. Cable systems are actively offering cable broadband services to retain customers,” the commission said.
Since the commission began collecting data in 2010, cable service subscriptions have dropped from nearly 5.1 million to 4.97 million in 2013 before surging to a peak of 5.26 million in 2017.
About 82 percent of the nation’s cable service market is owned by six large multiple-system operators: Kbro Co, Homeplus Digital Co, Taiwan Broadband Communications, TFN Media, Taiwan Optical Platform and Dafeng TV. The six collectively have 3.75 million cable service subscribers.
During the third quarter, only Taiwan Optical Platform reported a mild increase in cable service subscribers, up 0.13 percent from the second quarter, NCC data showed.
The other multiple-system operators reported a decline in cable service subscriptions.
Separately, the NCC warned the public not to click on suspicious links delivered to them via text messages, adding that it could cause malware to be implanted on their mobile phones and allow scammers to access their personal data and financial information on the device.
The links generally appear in fraud messages about unpaid freeway toll fees, water fees, fines or parking tickets, the commission said in a news release.
Some might receive messages that their bank is to close their personal accounts for safety reasons, or that they have credit card points that are about to expire, it said.
“We advise users of phones with Android systems to turn off the Rich Communications Service function, while iPhone users should turn off the iMessage function,” the commission said.
Rain is to increase from Wednesday morning as Severe Tropical Storm Kong-Rey approaches, with sea warnings to be issued as early as tomorrow afternoon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. As of 8am, Kong-Rey was 1,050km east-southeast of the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) heading in a northwesterly direction toward Taiwan, CWA Forecast Center Director Lin Po-tung (林伯東) said. Rainfall is to increase from Wednesday morning, especially in northern Taiwan and Yilan County, he said. A sea warning is possible from tomorrow afternoon, while a land warning may be issued on Wednesday morning, he added. Kong-Rey may intensify into a moderate typhoon as it passes
Hong Kong singer Andy Lau’s (劉德華) concert in Taipei tonight has been cancelled due to Typhoon Kong-rei and is to be held at noon on Saturday instead, the concert organizer SuperDome said in a statement this afternoon. Tonight’s concert at Taipei Arena was to be the first of four consecutive nightly performances by Lau in Taipei, but it was called off at the request of Taipei Metro, the operator of the venue, due to the weather, said the organizer. Taipei Metro said the concert was cancelled out of consideration for the audience’s safety. The decision disappointed a number of Lau’s fans who had
Taiwan yesterday issued warnings to four Chinese coast guard vessels that intruded into restricted waters around the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen Islands, according to the Coast Guard Administration (CGA). The four China Coast Guard ships were detected approaching restricted waters south of Kinmen at around 2 pm yesterday, the CGA’s Kinmen-Matsu Branch said in a statement. The CGA said it immediately deployed four patrol boats to closely monitor the situation. When the Chinese ships with the hull numbers "14512," "14609," "14603" and "14602" separately entered the restricted waters off Fuhsing islet (復興嶼), Zhaishan (翟山), Sinhu (新湖) and Liaoluo (料羅) at 3 pm, the Taiwanese patrol
A former member of the US Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU), formerly known as SEAL Team 6, said in an interview with Business Insider that the elite unit’s role in a Taiwan Strait conflict would be more limited than some might expect. The report follows an earlier one in September by the Financial Times, which said the “clandestine US Navy commando unit” has been training for missions to help Taiwan if it is invaded by China. “You don’t use a scalpel for a job a hammer can do,” the former Navy Seal said to Business Insider on condition of anonymity.
RSS