Taiwan to have new paid TV service and fee controversy

Taipei, June 13, 2003 (CENS)--Taiwan will enter the paid cable TV era in July but how much the viewers should pay has become a controversial issue on the NT$40 billion market.

The Government Information Office (GIO) has approved seven companies to provide 16 new channels to let consumers have more choices outside the present basic channels if they are willing to install the decoding boxes and pay an extra monthly fee for each of the new channels they choose beginning in July.

The business conglomerates that run the present cable TV operations in Taiwan said that consumers' rights to receive the programs carried on the basic channels will not be affected.

But the customers will have to pay for the STB, the descrambling box, because it is the basic equipment to enter the digital TV age. They said the box is like the personal computer, the necessary equipment, if a person wants to hook up with the Internet. The extra charge for viewing a channel ranges from NT$100 to NT$1,500 each month.

But the ROC Consumers Foundation and several Taipei City Council members have urged the government to protect consumers' interests when it launches the new paid cable TV operations.

The foundation said that each household in Taiwan presently pays around NT$600 per month to receive basic cable TV programs in Taiwan. It would be unfair for the consumers if the government allows cable TV operators to charge an additional rental fee of NT$200 for the cable box.

It pointed out that a consumer will still have to pay NT$1,500 as a deposit for the STB. The total cost for a consumer will run between NT$2,400 for just one selected channel and NT$7,950 for multi-channel viewing in the first month.

The cable TV operators should follow the example set in Britain and the United States to pick up the cost for the box, the foundation said, adding that the GIO should safeguard a minimum number of the basic channels and the quality of their content to prevent operators from forcing customers to the new paid channels.

Five New Party councilmen of Taipei City said the city government should not permit the business conglomerates that control the TV channels to take advantage of consumers by forcing the subscribers to pay for the TV decoders. The said the operators should not dilute the quality of the programs currently shown on the existing basic channels, for which consumers in Taipei already pay NT$550 per month.

They demanded that the TV companies cut the NT$550 monthly subscription fee for the basic channels when the ratio of subscribers of the new paid cable programs increase to 50% or 60% of all customers.

A fee rate reviewing panel of city government thinks that the decoding box should be part of the operating costs and consumers should not be forced to purchase the device or pay the rental fee. Officials of the Information Department at the city government said they will gather information concerning the prices of such device in other nations for reference when the panel holds its next meeting.