At the Cabinet meeting today, Premier Mao Chi-kuo instructed the Executive Yuan's Office of Science and Technology (OST) to continue to promote and expedite mobile broadband services and related industrial advancements to ensure the nation leads in broadband infrastructure development so as to facilitate the implementation of various smart applications.
Additionally, to help people in remote areas to enjoy broadband services, Mao directed the National Communications Commission to speed up mobile broadband coverage growth in these areas, and to work in conjunction with the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to release more broadband frequencies in order to enhance the speed of mobile Internet connections.
As for broadband construction in campuses, Mao noted that fiber optical network infrastructure is almost completed in all primary and secondary schools nationwide. The enhancement of this academic broadband network will help popularize digital learning and Internet applications, he said. Furthermore, sharing of remote schools' Internet connections with indigenous peoples and other local residents would help spread the use of the Internet in remote villages, thus achieving the objective of widespread usage and reducing the digital divide. The premier tasked the Council of Indigenous Peoples and the Ministry of Education to oversee the implementation of these efforts.
The premier gave these instructions after he was briefed by the OST on building a smart information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructural environment. He noted that this project is part of the ide@ Taiwan 2020 policy white paper and accords with global technological development as well as the ICT policies of major nations, which are all striving to bolster their broadband infrastructure.
Taiwan opened fourth generation (4G) broadband services a year ago, and within this short span the nation has already garnered fruitful results with some 7.2 million users and a penetration rate of 30.7 percent, the premier pointed out.
The OST stated that building an ICT environment encompasses achieving not only full mobile broadband coverage nationwide, but also completion of such major tasks as augmenting broadband networks in school campuses as well as digitization of cable TV, all by the end of 2015.
The office will also continue to formulate high-efficiency and highly reliable Internet networks in order to support development of smart communities and lifestyles through software and hardware infrastructures. This would be conducive to bringing about new business opportunities and thus improving the public's quality of life.
Besides amending laws concerning digital convergence, the office hopes to examine all relevant laws and regulations in areas such as labor, distance learning and medical care so as to expand the scope of e-commerce and usher in online services and economic development.