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Chapter Law Content

Title: Radio and Television Act CH
Category: National Communications Commission(國家通訊傳播委員會)
Chapter II. Station Establishment
Article 8
The distribution of stations shall be made in accordance with frequency allocation and shall be as balanced and widespread as possible. The number and location of stations shall be prescribed by the regulatory agency in conjunction with the MOTC.
Article 9
Appropriate frequencies shall be reserved to publicize national policies, meet educational needs, raise the cultural standard, broadcast terrestrial educational programs, and conduct international broadcast. Such frequencies shall be prescribed by the regulatory agency and the MOTC in conjunction with other pertinent agencies.
Article 10
For operation, a radio/television business shall file an application for approval; if approved, a station operating license shall be issued by the regulatory agency.
Concerning the approval of a radio/television business, the regulatory agency may adopt an assessment system, an auction system, an open bidding system, or other appropriate methods in consideration of the purpose of establishment, opening targets, market conditions, consumer rights, and other public interests.
The service area, number of licenses, licensing means, and other related matters concerning the radio/television business opening shall be announced by the regulatory agency.
To operate a radio/television business, an applicant shall complete and submit an application form, along with an operating plan and the required documents, to the regulatory agency. An approved business or the winning bidder shall be issued with an establishment permit by the regulatory agency.
The operating plan in the preceding Paragraph shall explicitly include the following items:
1. The overall plan;
2. The personnel structure and administrative organization;
3. The business plan and operating schedule planning;
4. Program planning, internal process control, and advertising fees and charges;
5. Financial structure;
6. The charges basis and its calculation method under charges;
7. Plan for personnel education and training;
8. Profile of equipment and plan for construction;
9. Other items specified by the regulatory agency.
Should an applicant’s documents or their contents be deemed incomplete, the regulatory agency shall notify the applicant to submit the necessary corrections or supplements within a prescribed period of time. If it fails to do so by the given time, the application shall be rejected.
The regulatory agency shall require the applicant to pay a performance bond. If the applicant fails to set up or finish the establishment according to the approved operating plan, the regulatory agency shall not refund all or some of the performance bond, and may revoke the granted establishment permit.
The qualifications and procedures, the application and the details of operating plan, the procuring of establishment permit and license, the paying method and refund condition of performance bond and other matters required, concerning the approval of a radio/television business, shall be prescribed by the regulatory agency.
Article 10-1
An applicant that has acquired an establishment permit shall apply to the regulatory agency for station installation within six months of acquiring the permit, in accordance with Article 46 of the Telecommunication Act. After completion of the installation, the applicant shall apply for a station license for each installed station and, within six months of acquiring the station license, shall apply for a radio/television station operating license.
Should the radio/television business wish to alter the approved operating plan, an application shall be submitted to the regulatory agency for approval.
Should there be a sub-station installation in the approved service area, a radio/television business shall file an application for changing the operating plan to the regulatory agency.
Article 10-2
(Repealed)
Article 11
Regulations governing the installation of boosters, converters, and community antennas shall be prescribed by the regulatory agency in conjunction with the MOTC.
Article 12
A radio/television station operating license shall be valid for nine years.
Before expiration of the license in the preceding Paragraph, an application shall be filed for license renewal in accordance with the notice of the regulatory agency. The qualifications, procedures and complying matters concerning the renewal shall be prescribed by the regulatory agency.
The application according to the preceding Paragraph, shall be filed within one year before the expiration.
Should the documents submitted with the application for radio/television station operating license renewal be found by the regulatory agency during its review to be incomplete, the radio/television business shall be notified in writing to submit the necessary corrections or supplements within a prescribed period of time. If it fails to do so by the given time, the application shall be rejected.
The application forms and accompanying documents for the radio/television station operating license renewal shall be prescribed by the regulatory agency.
Once every three years, the regulatory agency shall assess the execution report of the operation plan submitted by the radio/television business.
Should the assessment results mentioned in the preceding Paragraph reveal that a radio/television business has failed to live up to the operating plan and therefore needs to be corrected, the regulatory agency shall notify the said business to make corrections within a specified period of time. In the event that required corrections are not made, the regulatory agency shall revoke the permit and cancel the radio/television station operating license.
Article 12-1
When reviewing applications for the renewal of a radio/television station operating license, the regulatory agency shall consider the following items:
The implementation of the operating plan, the frequency utilization evaluation report, and future operating plan;
Financial status;
Whether the location of the transmitters and antennas conform with the prescribed approval;
Whether operations meet the needs of selected ethnic group(s) or serve the needs of the people in the serviced area; and
Record of rewards and punishments received under this Act and items that could influence the station’s operations.
Should the regulatory agency find, in its review, unsound business operations that require improvements, it shall notify the station in writing to complete the improvements within a prescribed period of time. If improvements are not made by the prescribed deadline or are ineffective, the application shall be rejected.
During the period of improvement under the preceding paragraph, the regulatory agency may issue a three-month temporary operating license only once.
Article 12-2
When a radio/television station operating license is damaged or its contents are altered, an application shall be filed with the regulatory agency for a replacement operating license within 15 days of the damage or alteration. In the event of loss, a notice declaring the license void shall be placed in a newspaper and an application for a replacement license shall be filed within 15 days.
The period of validity for a replacement or modified radio/television station operating license issued in accordance with the preceding paragraph shall be the same as that of the original operating license.
Article 13
The organization of a radio/television business, and the qualifications of the responsible person shall meet the requirements of the regulatory agency.
Article 14
The radio/television businesses shall have permission from the regulatory agency for broadcast suspension, stock transfer, and change of names or responsible persons.
Except if caused by force majeure, the broadcast suspensions mentioned in the preceding paragraph shall not exceed three months; otherwise, the allocated frequencies shall be withdrawn by the MOTC.
Article 14-1
Radio/television businesses shall allocate a portion of their profits to a fund for raising the standards of radio/television businesses and developing a public television station. The mode and criteria of collection, as well as the management and use of the fund, shall be prescribed by law.
Article 15
The facility standards of stations and the qualifications of the engineering personnel of radio/television businesses shall meet the requirements of the MOTC.