National Communication Commission (NCC) Chairperson Su Herng (蘇蘅) will brief lawmakers at the legislature’s Transportation Committee today on the principles governing the commission’s review of media mergers, with a special focus on the bid by Want Want Broadband to acquire cable TV services owned by multiple service operator China Network Service (CNS).

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津), one of the committee’s two conveners of the committee, told the Taipei Times that the committee had officially invited Want Want Group Chairman Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明) to attend the meeting.

Yeh said many were concerned that the nation’s media outlets were owned by a handful of conglomerates.

She said Want Want-China Times Group, which already owns TV stations and newspapers, plans to branch out to the cable TV stations.

The CNS deal would enable the group to determine which channels were included in the cable TV service, which would directly affect viewers’ interests, Yeh said.

“We want to give Mr Tsai the opportunity to speak and see if he can alleviate people’s concerns,” she added.

Yeh said the fact that two of the four commissioners scheduled to review the merger had indicated their intention to resign had exacerbated the controversy.

“Among the seven commissioners, three withdrew from the case because they were publicly humiliated by the Want Want Group in its acquisition of the China Times Group in 2008,” she said. “The NCC explained that the final ruling [on the CNS deal] would still be valid even if it was made by four commissioners … Now two of the remaining four have said they want to resign.”

The commission last week said it would hold another public hearing early next month on the CNS bid, because it wanted to hear more opinions from different parties.

The following day, Want Want China Broadband issued a statement saying that Tsai would agree to attend the public hearing, which the company characterized as a “public trial” and a “struggle session” similar to those held during the Cultural Revolution in China.

That statement said Tsai would attend on the condition that the commission ruled on the case within two weeks of the hearing.

“Since last year, we have quickly and sincerely replied all of NCC’s questions on the concentration of media ownership, as well as other irrelevant matters [such as a report in the Washington Post that took Mr Tsai’s comments out of context],” the statement said. “We even used statistics to demonstrate that most of the calculations of media concentration are wrong, including those using the Hirfindahl index from the US or the method from the German Commission on Concentration in the Media. Excessive media concentration is not an issue in Taiwan, nor is there any media outlet that enjoys a monopoly here.”

Meanwhile, lawmakers at the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee also plan to question officials from the Mainland Affairs Council, the Ministry of Interior and the NCC today on how the government manages the content of advertisements from China.

DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) said he suspected the Fujian Provincial Government might have paid China Times to provide detailed coverage of the visit of Fujian Province Governor Su Shulin (蘇樹林) last month, when Su urged Taiwan to work with China on the joint development of the Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Zone.

http://www.taipeitimes.net/News/taiwan/archives/2012/04/23/2003531053

News from the Taipei Times

Taipei, April 18 (CNA) Taiwan’s National Communications Commission approved Wednesday an application by a local sports television network to air the 2012 London Olympic Games on 11 channels.

Elta TV, which is carried on Chunghwa Telecom’s MOD (multimedia on demand) system, will be able to broadcast the Olympic Games on the 11 approved channels, according to commission spokesperson Chen Jeng-chang.

Should Elta TV decide to cease its broadcasts on the channels after the 2012 Olympic Games have ended, it needs to file such a request three months in advance, Chen added.

The commission is still negotiating with terrestrial and cable television networks in the country to make sure the public will be able to view the Olympic Games through all major TV platforms, Chen stated.

Currently, only Elta TV and Chunghwa telecom have obtained the right to air the Olympic Games through new media platforms, such as mobile phones and Internet Protocol Television, which is digital footage delivered on a person’s television through a high-speed Internet connection.

http://focustaiwan.tw/SearchNews/hyDetailws.aspx?qid=201204180029&q=telecom

News from the Focis Taiwan

Taipei, April 21 (CNA) Far EasTone Telecommunications Co., Taiwan’s third largest mobile provider, has recorded higher growth in mobile data revenue than its bigger competitors in the first quarter of this year.

Far EasTone reported mobile service revenue of NT$14.57 billion (US$495 million) in the first three months of this year, with mobile data revenue accounting for 27.4 percent, the company said in a statement Friday.

Its mobile data revenue totaled NT$3.99 billion in the first quarter, an increase of 48 percent from the same period of 2011.

Far EasTone’s 48 percent annual growth was higher than the 29.2 percent of Chunghwa Telecom Co. and the 40 percent of Taiwan Mobile Co., the country’s top two mobile providers.

Meanwhile, Far EasTone’s data service subscribers reached 1.81 million as of March this year, representing an annual growth of 63 percent.

The company expects both its mobile data revenue and subscribers will continue to grow in the future thanks to the sales of smart handheld devices.

From January to March, smartphones and tablet PCs accounted for 79 percent of Far EasTone’s total mobile device volume sales.

Phones running Google Inc.’s Android software remained Far EasTone’s best-sellers by taking 60 percent of its total smartphone sales, while iPhone accounted for 25 percent, the company said.

http://focustaiwan.tw/SearchNews/hyDetailws.aspx?qid=201204210007&q=telecom

News from the Focus Taiwan

Taipei, April 18 (CNA) The upcoming Computex Taipei, the world’s second largest computer trade show, will highlight applications and products involving the global positioning system (GPS), a local computer association said Wednesday.

There will be a designated area showcasing the development of the system that can be applied to many fields, including traffic, merchandise shipment and medical treatment, said the Taipei Computer Association, which is organizing the event.

Recognizing the growing importance of GPS products, the association said it hoped the show will be used as a platform to initiate business cooperation among local and foreign companies, especially in GPS tracking services and telematics.

Citing a report from market intelligence company ABI Research, the association said sales of personal GPS tracking devices and associated services could surpass US$1 billion in 2017, with a compound annual growth rate of 40 percent.

Although fewer than 100,000 GPS tracking devices were manufactured in 2011, the number is expected to grow every year before reaching 2.5 million units by 2017, the report said.

Computex Taipei, which will be held June 5-9, will feature Ultrabooks, smart handheld devices, e-readers and cloud technology services, according to the association.

A total of 1,800 exhibitors at 5,400 booths are expected to participate, which would make the show bigger than ever before, the organizers said.

The show is expected to attract more than 36,000 international buyers and generate US$28 billion in business, up from US$25 billion in 2011, the organizers added.

http://focustaiwan.tw/SearchNews/hyDetailws.aspx?qid=201204180057&q=computer

News from the Focus Taiwan News

The National Communications Commission yesterday approved an application by the National Freeway Bureau (NFB) to use a radio frequency for its eTag system, adding that the commission reserved the right to annul the operational license if the bureau fails to address interference that the system could cause to 2G or 4G telecoms networks.

Commission spokesperson Chen Jeng-chang (陳正倉) said the operational license would be granted to the bureau only after the commission inspects and certifies the infrastructure of the eTag system.

In response, bureau officials said it would take another two to four weeks before they could obtain the official operational license to use the frequency. The inevitable administrative procedure is expected to pose a challenge for Far Eastern Electronic Toll Collection Co, the contractor in charge of collecting freeway tolls on behalf of the government.

Based on the terms stated in the build-operate-transfer contract, the company must raise the usage rate of its electronic toll collection system to 65 percent by June or it will face a daily penalty of NT$500,000.

The usage rate of the electronic toll system, which was launched in 2006, is about 44 percent, which is 21 percent below the target with just two months left.

The commission said the bureau had applied to use a frequency band between 922.75 megahertz (MHz) and 924.25MHz for its eTag system, which enables it to charge motorists by the distance traveled on freeways.

The commission began reviewing the application in February. However, it had been reluctant to approve the application for fear the eTag system could interfere with the operations of 4G networks because the two systems would lack an adequate buffer.

The nation has reserved the frequency range above 930MHz for the development of 4G networks, which leaves a gap of 5.75MHz from the higher end of the eTag system.

So far, there is no evidence that the eTag system would interfere with the 2G network.

Yesterday’s approval came with several conditions. The operational license for the eTag system will expire on Dec. 31, 2014. Should the eTag system cause interference with 2G or 4G networks, the bureau would be required to improve the situation within a designated period of time. The commission would have the right to take back the frequency band assigned to the bureau if the interference persists.

If the eTag system is found to conflict with the 4G network, the bureau should also keep its promises made to the commission, including moving the toll–collecting gantries away from areas with weak 4G signals, installing base stations on the gantries to strengthen 4G signals and lowering the power of the eTag system.

The bureau should entrust a reliable third-part organization with task of proving that the ETC system will not clash with the 4G network, adding that the report must be submitted within six months after it obtains the license from the NCC.

http://www.taipeitimes.net/News/biz/archives/2012/04/12/2003530099

News from the Taipei Times