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NCC prepared to mediate roaming deal if necessary

The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that it would act as an arbitrator if Taiwan Star Telecom Co Ltd (台灣之星) and Taiwan Mobile (台灣大哥大) fail to reach a 4G roaming agreement.

NCC spokesperson Yu Hsiao-cheng (虞孝成) confirmed that Taiwan Star has approached the commission about its effort to sign a roaming deal with Taiwan Mobile. The Regulations Governing Mobile Telecommunications Businesses (行動寬頻業務管理規則) stipulate that dominant 3G telecoms are obligated to provide roaming to new 3G service providers, he said.

After Taiwan Mobile and Asia-Pacific Telecom Co (亞太電信) signed a roaming agreement, Taiwan Star asked to sign similar agreements with Taiwan Mobile for 3G and 4G services on the grounds that the Telecommunications Act (電信法) bans a telecom from discriminating against other telecoms or users without justification, Yu said.

While the regulations stipulate that 3G service operators are obligated to offer roaming service, there is no article requiring 4G operators to do the same, Yu said.

Disputes revolving around 4G roaming between Taiwan Mobile and Asia-Pacific Telecom emerged after the carriers were found sharing Taiwan Mobile’s core network instead of building their own infrastructure and using the roaming agreement to ensure continuous communication in out-of-service areas.

The setup drew protests from Taiwan Star, Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) and Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信), who jointly urged the commission to prohibit what they saw as an illegal practice.

Taiwan Star’s request to form a roaming partnership with Taiwan Mobile was widely perceived as a move to highlight its illegality, which could lead to unfair competition in the 4G service market, observers said.



Source: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2015/05/28/2003619364

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