Taiwan’s National Communications Commission (NCC) has suggested that the earth terminal for Chungwha Telecom’s ST-2 satellite may have to use a different frequency. According to the Taipei Times, NCC chairperson Nicole Chan last week told a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee that the government was considering using frequencies in the 3.4GHz and 3.6GHz bands for 5G technologies; spectrum within these bands is currently used by Chungwha to transmit signals between its satellite and the earth terminal. With a final decision on the spectrum plans expected to be made by the state by June 2018, the NCC is also reported to have established a task force to establish the rules for auctioning 5G-suitable frequencies.
Commenting on the matter, NCC spokesman Weng Po-tsung said. ‘We will have to first conduct experiments to determine what we would need for Chunghwa Telecom’s satellite system and the 5G system to coexist and not interfere with one another … The Executive Yuan will review the results of the experiments and make a final decision.’ Weng also noted that the operator may be eligible for compensation for the costs of relocating to a new frequency, should such a course of action be necessary.