TAIWAN: Broadband coverage to hit 100% soon, NCC predicts

Chunghwa Telecom and Taiwan Fixed Network install broadband infrastructure for all unwired, remote villages by end of February

Taipei Times
Saturday, January 19, 2008

By Shelley Shan

By the end of next month, Taiwan will be the first nation in the world where broadband service coverage reaches 100 percent of its territory, the National Communications Commission (NCC) said yesterday.

The commission has been pursuing the goal since last year, and will meet it when the broadband connection service will be made available to residents of the last 46 villages in the nation's remote areas.

The commission said that these villages either had absolutely no Internet service or had only low-speed Internet connections.

The infrastructure was installed by Chunghwa Telecom and Taiwan Fixed Network (TFN), two of the nation's dominators in the telecom industry.

Originally, the construction of broadband facilities in the 46 villages was scheduled to be completed last month.

Haocha Village of Pingtung County, one of the 46 villages, was forced to relocate its infrastructure after Typhoon Wutip last August. Therefore, the commission decided to set the goal for next month.

The commission noted that it had already completed the construction of broadband facilities in the 45 other villages by the middle of last month.

Based on figures included in the commission's presentation yesterday, the entire project cost approximately NT$96.5 million (US$2.92 million).

NCC commissioner Hsieh Chin-nan said that for this year they will continue to use the general telecom fund to offer broadband service to every Aboriginal tribe in the nation.

Hsieh added that the project not only solves the problem of broadband service, but also helps solve other problems, such as regular phone service and mobile phone service.

Two township chiefs also came to the meeting yesterday, where government officials and telecom operators reviewed the execution of the project and the use of the general telecom fund.

Bao Shui-sheng, chief of the Sandimen Township in Pingtung County, said that while the broadband service is now available in every village, the government should also try to offer opportunities for residents to learn how to use a computer.

Date Posted: 1/19/2008