Low and medium Earth orbit satellites have been used by the government for the first time to help rescue workers after last week’s large earthquake centered in Hualien County, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday.
The ministry dispatched to Hualien a truck equipped with equipment to link to low and medium Earth orbit satellites, as well as three OneWeb low Earth orbit satellites, to facilitate mobile communications among rescuers and residents, Minister of Digital Affairs Audrey Tang (唐鳳) said.
“Low Earth orbit satellites allowed residents in Hualien to access Wi-Fi services,” Tang said. “Even though OneWeb’s signal is yet to cover the disaster-stricken area, test results showed that the connections were better than what we had anticipated.”
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
OneWeb’s ground station in Guam has begun operations, she said, adding that ground stations in Japan and Thailand are scheduled to begin operating in the first half of this year.
Specialists from the ministry’s Telecom Technology Center said that the biggest breakthrough was combining the use of low and medium Earth orbit satellites to facilitate communications in the zones most badly affected by the earthquake, which measured 7.2 on the Richter scale.
The Tiansiang (天祥) Recreational Area in Taroko National Park is in a valley, so satellite connectivity there is sometimes blocked by mountains, the specialists said.
However, combining the two satellite systems allows multiple lines of sight, enabling adjustments when topography poses a challenge, they said.
The cost to build the satellite truck was about NT$8 million (US$249,844), while terminal equipment for the three low Earth orbit satellites cost NT$2.6 million, the ministry said.
Deputy Minister of Digital Affairs Herming Chiueh (闕河鳴) said that the ministry is seeking additional funding to upgrade some of the 105 mobile service trucks owned by telecoms to enable connectivity via non-geosynchronous satellites.
In other news, the National Communications Commission (NCC) said that there are still 36 mobile phone base stations yet to be repaired following damage they sustained during the earthquake, with 10 operated by Chunghwa Telecom, 15 by Taiwan Mobile and 11 by Far EasTone Telecommunications.
Nearly all of the damaged base stations are between Tiansiang and the Tunnel of Nine Turns (九曲洞) in Taroko, the commission said, adding that those west of Tiansiang have all been fixed.
“Base stations are not functioning because of power outages and that cannot be fixed if the roads to the facilities are inaccessible,” NCC Vice Chairman and spokesman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
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
RSS