Taiwan Mobile has been fined NT$300,000 (US$9,136) as a default surcharge for failing to dispose of the excess bandwidth in frequency bands below 1 gigahertz (GHz) before the deadline designated by the National Communications Commission (NCC), as well as an additional NT$3 million fine for contravening the Telecommunications Act.
Taiwan Mobile has since returned the frequency as ordered.
The commission first issued the ruling on the default charge on July 10 after listening to a statement by Taiwan Mobile chief technology officer C.H. Jih (揭朝華).
Photo: Ting Yi, Taipei Times
The nation’s second-largest telecom was told to rectify the situation within three days after it received the official ruling, or it would face a fine of NT$3 million for failing to follow its business plan.
As the telecom did not rectify the situation as ordered, it was fined NT$3 million by the commission on July 17.
The nation’s three large telecoms are permitted to have no more than 50 megahertz (MHz) in frequency bands below 1GHz, which can produce radio waves that have higher penetration and diffraction capabilities, and enable telecoms to broaden the service coverage of 5G systems.
Taiwan Mobile obtained 60MHz in highly sought-after frequency bands following its merger with Taiwan Star Telecom, which the commission approved last year on the condition that by June 30, Taiwan Mobile must return the excess bandwidth of 10MHz to the government, or sell or transfer it to other telecoms.
In his statement, Jih said the company is still using the excess bandwidth to serve customers, but that it is scheduled to consolidate the base stations of Taiwan Mobile and Taiwan Star by the end of November and return the excess bandwidth to the Ministry of Digital Affairs by the end of December.
Taiwan Mobile said in a separate statement that it has been working ahead of its schedule since Dec. 1 last year.
“However, the time that we had to consolidate the network was too short, and the court has yet to rule over the administrative lawsuit that we filed challenging the conditions of the merger,” the company said. “To ensure the quality of services offered to users and protect shareholders’ interests, we have found it difficult to return the excess bandwidth before the end of June.”
NCC commissioners disagreed with Taiwan Mobile’s explanation, saying it has other ways to protect its users.
“There are multiple ways for the company to consolidate the networks. Why does it have to choose the one that is difficult to complete within a short period of time?” NCC Chief Secretary Huang Wen-che (黃文哲) said on behalf of the commissioners.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to