Taiwan expects that satellite service by United Kingdom (UK)-based OneWeb would cover the entire island by the end of this year. Speaking to the Central news agency on Saturday (June 17), Taiwan’s Minister of Digital Affairs Audrey Tang said the satellite service expansion would provide more options for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites to Taiwan, adding OneWeb services were only available in the northern part.
OneWeb is “very willing” to work with Taiwan to bolster the island’s communication infrastructure, Tang said.
Tang’s rare trip to London
The minister’s remarks come after she made a rare trip to London, visiting the headquarters of OneWeb and meeting with British ministers.
According to a report by the news agency Reuters, Tang met British Security Minister Tom Tugendhat on Wednesday. A source told Reuters that the meeting between the two ministers was about mutual security interests.
Tugendhat, who was sanctioned by China two years ago for speaking out about alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang, is not a full cabinet minister but attends cabinet meetings in his role as security minister.
And Tang’s visit to the UK comes a year after Taiwan’s top trade negotiator John Deng visited the country.
Taiwan’s disaster response plan
On Saturday, Tang told the Central news agency that OneWeb was very willing to work with Taiwan to bolster the island’s communication infrastructure. Taiwan’s disaster response plan calls for the establishment of 700 satellite receivers placed all over the island, the news agency Bloomberg reported.
Some of the receivers would be fixed, others mobile, and they would have to be configured to receive communications from multiple constellations of satellites in LEO and Medium Earth Orbit.
(With inputs from agencies)
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