Telecom service expected to be restored Tuesday after Typhoon Danas damage

Taipei, Aug. 4 (CNA) Chunghwa Telecom expects to restore phone, broadband and MOD service on Tuesday, after disruptions caused by Typhoon Danas last month, according to the Taiwanese partly state-owned telecom company.

Speaking at a legislative committee meeting on Monday, Chunghwa Telecom Chairman Chien Chih-cheng (簡志誠) said full repairs to 33 damaged mobile base stations are expected to be completed by the end of October, while temporary mobile stations have been deployed to provide network coverage for the time being.

As of July 31, 2,141 households in municipalities including Tainan, Chiayi County, Chiayi City and Yunlin County remain without landline service, while 764 broadband connections are still affected, according to data provided by Chunghwa Telecom.

The Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA), National Communications Commission (NCC), Chunghwa Telecom and Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) also participated in the meeting of the Transportation Committee of the Legislative Yuan.

NCC Acting Chairperson Chen Chung-shu (陳崇樹) said over 30 mobile base station vehicles are operating daily in the Chianan area, referring to an area broadly covering Yunlin County, Chiayi County, Chiayi City and Tainan.

Taiwan's three main mobile telecom operators are offering affected users 300 free call minutes per month for two months and have introduced additional support measures, he said.

MODA Deputy Minister Chueh Her-ming (闕河鳴) said the ministry will assist companies in purchasing mobile vehicles equipped with satellite terminal equipment, with each operator planning to buy three.

The digital ministry will also subsidize related equipment, including satellite terminal racks, domestic routers, firewalls and Wi-Fi access points, and support retrofitting of 31 existing vehicles, he said.

Chueh said power outages disrupted many base stations, and telecom companies have agreed to buy over 200 portable generators to restore service in blackout zones.

He added that MODA and the NCC will prioritize the construction of high-resilience base stations with 72-hour backup power and promote shared-infrastructure base stations using Taipower substations.

Chueh said underground cabling solutions will be studied for disaster-prone areas and evacuation shelters, among other technical measures.