National Communications Commission’s 2015 Legislative Plan and Regulation Overview Project
Ⅰ.Four Drafts of Laws (the titles are provisional)
(1) Convergence Act
(2) Telecommunications Act
(3) Cable Radio and Television Act
(4) Radio and Television Act, Satellite Broadcasting Act
II. Fifteen Amendments of Legal Orders; the titles and highlights of the amendments are as following:
Name of Regulations & Highlight of Amendments
1 Regulations for Administration of Mobile Broadband Businesses
Highlight of Amendments
In correspondence to the license release operations of 2500 and 2600 MHz frequency bands, the following articles were reviewed and amended: the criteria for applying and opening a station, obligations for construction, roaming, transfer of frequency usage right, upper and lower bandwidth limits, licenses’ period of validity etc.
2 Regulations for Administration on Type II Telecommunications Business Article 27
Highlight of Amendments
Planning to replace foreign passports with “Alien Permanent Resident Certificates” (APRC) as the primary piece of identification for applicants of telecommunications business examination and audit.
3 Regulations on the Management and Operation of the Cable Radio and Television Development Fund
Highlight of Amendments
Explicitly defined the applications of the Cable Radio and Television Development Fund and established preliminary review mechanisms for the fund’s disbursement to local government grants.
4 Processing Fee Criteria for Broadcasting Businesses
Highlight of Amendments
Reviewed the standards of service charges such as permission fees, license fees, and licensing fees to ensure they comply with related regulations in the Fees Act.
5 Regulations on Television Program Classification
Highlight of Amendments
(1) Updated the regulations for plot labels.
(2) Updated the permission for foreign satellite radio and television businesses to display the classification labels and plot warning messages from their countries.
(3) Updated the co-management mechanism of classification.
6 Regulations for Administration on Fixed Network Telecommunications Business
Highlight of Amendments
Updated related regulations in the specific chapter on information security.
7 Regulations for Administration of Mobile Broadband Businesses
Highlight of Amendments
Updated related regulations in the specific chapter on information safety.
8 Regulations for Administration of the Third Generation Mobile Communications Business
Highlight of Amendments
Updated related regulations in the specific chapter on information safety.
9 Regulations for Administration of Wireless Broadband Access Business
Highlight of Amendments
Updated related regulations in the specific chapter on information safety.
10 Regulations Governing Building Telecommunication Equipment and Space Appliance
Highlight of Amendments
Newly constructed buildings such as public buildings, congregate housing, and houses with over 1,000 square feet of total floor area for public gathering or business purposes should install optical fiber-related facilities.
11 Building Indoor/Outdoor Telecommunication Equipment Engineering Technique Regulation
Highlight of Amendments
Newly-constructed buildings that exceed a particular scale should be equipped with optical fibers and related facilities.
12 Fee-charging Standards for Applying to Operate a Cable Radio and Television Service
Highlight of Amendments
The examination fee for converting cable television systems to analog signals will be revised to $21,000 per case, in accordance with the fee for converting cable television into digital signals.
13 Administrative Regulations on the Controlled Telecommunications Radio-Frequency Devices
Highlight of Amendments
As telecommunication-controlled radio-frequency devices are differentially regulated by their levels of influence on electromagnetic waves, regulations on the devices with mild influence will be relaxed to justify the management policy.
14 Regulations Supervising and Guidance Internet Protocol Address and Domain Name Registration Management Services
Highlight of Amendments
(1)Updated the policy for registration management agencies to commission legal organizations to process registration management services.
(2)Updated the policy to process controversies in domain names according to international regulations, and the implementation measures that competent authorities can adopt for supervision purposes.
15 Administrative Regulations On Amateur Radios
Highlight of Amendments
Simplified the administrative operation and flow; reviewed and cancelled the skills test for second-order amateur radio personnel to provide convenience services.
III. Six Amendments of administrative rules; the titles and highlights of the amendments are as following:
Name of Regulations & Highlight of Amendments
1 Directions for Managing Administrative Fined Cases on the Communications Enterprises in Violation of the Personal Information Protection Act Impose by the NCC (Draft)
Highlight of Amendments
The items to consider in deciding the penalty severity of a violation include: case descriptions (divided into 18 sub-items), numbers of violation (within 3 years), and other factors for analysis.
2-4 Directions for Station Establishment Application, License Renewal, and Performance Assessment of Satellite Broadcasting Businesses and Foreign Satellite Broadcasting Businesses
Highlight of Amendments
Reviewed the evaluation of foreign channels and the documents they should submit for license application or renewal.
5 Operation Regulations in the Event of Natural Disasters and Emergency for Cable Radio and Television System
Highlight of Amendments
Proposed a two-phase report program, by which related competent authorities will request broadcasting businesses to stop broadcasting programs or specific program content. The broadcasting business can determine whether to comply with the request. The business should report their justifications to the NCC if it decides to decline the request.
6 Operation Regulations in the Event of Natural Disasters and Emergency for Cable Radio and Television System
Highlight of Amendments
Under emergency situations, related competent authorities are permitted to notify broadcasting businesses to broadcast specific programs or messages for more timely actions.
