Sea vessels from neighboring countries have repeatedly damaged submarine cables connecting Taiwan proper with outlying islands, a budget review report published by the National Audit Office showed.
Communication between Taiwan proper and outlying islands depends mainly on underwater cable communication systems, supplemented by microwave transmission and satellite systems, the report says.
Once underwater cable system malfunctions, it can severely affect communication among Taiwan proper, Penghu, Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, it says.
Photo: Taipei Times file
The nation has 10 domestic submarine cables, all invested, constructed and maintained by Chunghwa Telecom, the report says.
There were 36 cases of damage caused by external forces from 2019 to last year, with an average of about seven submarine cable failures per year, it says.
Twelve submarine cable failures were recorded last year alone, the most in the past five years, the report says.
“It is reported the damage was mainly caused by the operation or anchoring of various vessels, such as sand dredgers, fishing boats and merchant ships from neighboring countries. Repairs can sometimes take more than four months to complete, which greatly affects the lives of people on the outlying islands,” it says.
Among the damaged cables is the No. 2 undersea telecom cable connecting New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水) and Lienchiang County’s Dongyin Island (東引), which was suspected of being damaged by a fishing boat anchoring on Feb. 2 last year, it says.
Another cable, connecting Caota (草漯) in Taoyuan and Lienchiang County’s Nangan Island (南竿), the No. 3 cable, was suspected of being damaged by a cargo ship on Feb. 8, resulting in the congestion of mobile communications and Internet services for more than 10,000 households in Matsu, it says.
The incident seriously affected the operations of government agencies, financial transactions, medical services and transportation, it says.
“The National Communications Commission says it has asked telecoms to reduce the risk of submarine cable damage through multiple protection mechanisms, including conducting telecom traffic diversion drills and replacing submarine cables in sections with higher failure rates. The capacity of the microwave backup system would continue to be expanded as well,” the report says.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS