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Probe launched in
lease denial for TV station
By Shelley Shan / Staff Reporter
The National Communications Commission yesterday said it would investigate
whether the nation’s largest telecoms operator decided not to renew the lease
for a satellite service to New Tang Dynasty Television (新唐人電視台, NTDTV) for
political reasons.
NTDTV was founded by members of Falun Gong, which has been banned by the Chinese
government.
NTDTV said in a statement that it has been leasing Chunghwa Telecom’s (CHT) ST-1
satellite to air programs from overseas. The contract expires on Aug. 9 and
NTDTV is obligated to apply to renew the lease three months prior to the
contract expiring.
Chunghwa refused to renew the contract on the grounds that it had started using
a new satellite, ST-2, and currently does not have enough bandwidth to provide
quality service because the new satellite has fewer transponders.
“However, based on CHT’s public information, ST-2 is a joint venture between
Taiwan and Singapore. It was said to have better quality, wider coverage and
more transponders compared with the ST-1. This obviously contradicts the reasons
the company gave to deny the renewal,” NTDTV said in a statement.
NTDTV alleges the decision was made to please Beijing because Chunghwa is
expanding its market in China.
In response, Chunghwa said ST-2 has fewer transponders than ST-1, which in turn
decreases the available bandwidth. As a result of the decreased bandwidth, the
telecoms company decided not to renew the contract with NTDTV, which is about to
expire. It denied that the decision was politically motivated.
The communications commission said it will interview both parties and determine
if Chunghwa indeed abused its status as a dominate market player and
discriminated against certain clients.
Meanwhile, National Communications Commission Chairperson Su Herng (蘇蘅) was
criticized by the lawmakers serving on the legislature’s Finance Committee for
the commission’s passive handling of what they said was “fabricated news”
produced by SET-TV.
Pressed by the lawmakers, Su promised a public explanation after it completes
the investigation within two weeks.
SET-TV reported that a “job seeker” who President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) helped
secure a job for at the Din Tai Fong restaurant during a visit to a Council of
Labor Affairs job fair on Sunday, was in fact already an employee of Din Tai
Fong.
The restaurant said it asked one of its employees to pose as a job seeker at the
request of a television reporter.
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