NCC discusses 5G plans

QUESTION OF PROGRESS: Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lee Kun-tse said that other nations are likely to leave Taiwan behind if it does not step up its 5G efforts

By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter





The government is to release the operational licenses for the 5G telecom service toward the end of next year, National Communications Commission (NCC) Chairwoman Nicole Chan (詹婷怡) said on Monday.

Chan made the statement at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which was scheduled to review three commissioner nominees: NCC Vice Chairman and spokesperson Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗), National Taiwan University of Science and Technology professor Teng Wei-chung (鄧惟中) and National Taiwan University professor Sunny Sun (孫雅麗).

Wong was nominated to serve as vice chairman for a second term.

From left, National Communications Commission (NCC) Chairwoman Nicole Chan, NCC Vice Chairman Wong Po-Tsung and commission candidates Sunny Sun and Teng Wei-chung take part in a news conference in Taipei on Monday. Photo: CNA

Democratic Progressive Party legislators Lee Kun-tse (李昆澤) and Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) and New Power Party Legislator Hung Tzu-yung (洪慈庸) asked Chan about the nation’s progress in developing 5G services.

The US and South Korea are schedule to hold auctions for 5G licenses this year, while Japan aims to begin commercial 5G operations in 2020, Lee said.

Taiwan is likely to be behind other nations if it does not step up efforts to develop 5G, he said.

Chan said the government would soon determine the frequency bands and bandwidth that it would use for 5G, adding that the commission has begun to conduct tests to ascertain if 5G would interfere with other services.

“If it is determined that the frequency bands between 3.4MHz and 3.6MHz are to be used by 5G, then we might have to relocate other services to different frequency bands,” Chan said.

The government is to auction 5G licenses next year, Chan said, adding that it is aiming to begin commercial 5G operations in 2020 as well.

The frequency bands between 3.4MHz and 3.6MHz are used by Chunghwa Telecom and the military. The telecom needs the frequency to transmit signals between its ST-2 satellite and its Earth terminal.

In related news, several lawmakers have voiced their concern over the dispute between Formosa TV and Taiwan Broadband Communications (TBC) over content authorization fees, which at one point meant the network’s news channel was inaccessible to about 750,000 TBC cable subscribers.

Chan said that the commission is scheduled to present within a month amendments to three media acts — the Radio and Television Act (廣播電視法), the Satellite Broadcasting Act (衛星廣播電視法) and the Cable Radio and Television Act (有線廣播電視法).

The amendments would include implementing a tiered pricing scheme for cable service subscribers, preventing media monopolization and ensuring that all television channels are treated fairly and equally by cable system operators.