Telecommunications in Taiwan

Communications in Taiwan comprise the following communication media, deployed in the Taiwan Area of the Republic of China and regulated by the National Communications Commission of the Executive Yuan.

Since the mid-1970s there has been an accelerating shift from traditional personal services (small shops and restaurants) to modern personal services (department stores and hotels) and modern commercial services (finance and communications).

Domestic television has long carried many foreign programs, and liberalization of import restrictions in the 1980s brought more.

There are about 30 daily newspapers and thousands of periodicals, many of the latter house organs of various political and non-political organizations. The government sets general guidelines for the political and cultural content of newspapers and periodicals. There are three television stations and about 30 radio broadcasting companies with more than 180 stations.

Telephony

File:Public telephone.jpg

Public telephone in Taiwan

Telephones - main lines in use: 16.433 million (2009)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 27.84 million (2009)

Telephone system:
general assessment: provides telecommunication service for every business and private need
domestic: thoroughly modern; completely digitalized
international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean); submarine cables to Japan (Okinawa), Philippines, Guam, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Australia, Middle East, and Western Europe (1999)

• Major cellular operators: Chunghwa Telecom, FarEasTone, KGT Online, First International Telecom, Taiwan GSM, Asia Pacific Broadband Wireless Communication Inc (APBW), Vibo Telecom, Aurora

Radio

Radio broadcast stations: AM 218, FM 333, shortwave 50 (1999)

Radios: 16 million (1994)

Television

Television broadcast stations: 29 (plus two repeaters) (1997)

Televisions: 8.8 million (1998)

Broadcast media: 5 nationwide television networks operating roughly 75 TV stations; about 85% of households utilize multi-channel cable TV; national and regional radio networks with about 170 radio stations (2008)

Internet

See for more: Country code (Top level domain)TW.

statical	years
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):15	(1999)
Internet hosts:6.166 million	(2010)
Internet users:16.147 million	(2009)

Broadband internet access

See for rankings: List of countries by broadband users.

The number of broadband subscribers in Taiwan surpassed 4.5 million by the end of March 2007. This number is approximately 20% of the total population.

See also

• List of companies of Taiwan
• Censorship in Taiwan
• Media of Taiwan

References

• CIA - The World Factbook - Taiwan

External links

• Ministry Of Transportation And Communications
• Press in Taiwan
• http://www.twnic.net.tw/English/Index.htm (Taiwan Network Information Center (TWNIC)