Product and Service Obligations

Electromagnetic Field and Customer Health Safety Promotion

Key Results and Performance of Ethical Operation in 2020:
  • 59 promotional videos on electromagnetic waves and human health had a total of 2.86 million views.
  • Performed 49 measurements of the Company that all comply with NCC electromagnetic field standards.

The TWM base stations are strictly controlled by NCC, and have passed the International Commission for Non ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) measurement specifications. In addition, TWM joined hands with peers and the Telecommunications Industry Development Association to set up a special area in NCC to provide 0800-580010 free measurement service, and established a "base station electromagnetic wave knowledge service network" to provide special reports on the relationship between electromagnetic waves and human health, and uploaded 59 propaganda films on YouTube channel, with 2.86 million views.

In 2022, NCC performed 330 measurements in total, of which 49 were from TWM, with the results complying with NCC electromagnetic field standards.

Inquire electromagnetic wave service unit
www.emfsite.org.tw
Free electromagnetic measurement service
0800-580010
Base Station electromagnetic wave knowledge
www.emfsite.org.tw

Common sense of Electro Magnetic Fields

Taiwan mobile communication applies the cellular system. It divides serving area into several hexagonal grids based on coverage and capacity. Each hexagonal grid has a base station to transmit and receive mobile signal. As mobile phone call moves from one place to the next, it is handed-over by one cell to another without interrupting a call.

Mobile communication is a "two-way communication mode", when the user makes calls, the mobile phone will search the nearest base station for communication. The distance between the base station and the mobile phone will affect the transmission power of the mobile phone, when the phone is closer to the base station, the phone's transmit power is also lower.

Mobile communication has an "automatic gain control system", when the phone starts to talk, at this moment the power of mobile phone is the strongest, but after the success of the call, the transmission power will reduce to between 0.001 watts and the maximum power (less than 1 watt). Hence to increase the battery life and the talk time.

It was suggested that the base station should be moved to rural areas or sparsely populated. It were different from the one-way transmission of radio stations or television stations, the mobile communication is a "two-way communication mode". If base station is far from the crowd, which may cause poor communication quality. In order to avoid drop calls, the mobile phone will increase the transmit power.

The safety standard of electromagnetic wave of base station in Taiwan is approved by “International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP)”, which is the international independent scientific organization, and also approved by World Health Organization (WHO)”. For the safe of public health, ICNIRP take the health effect into consideration 50 times stricter then the theoretical value, when it drew up the safety standard of electromagnetic wave of base station. Now this standard is followed commonly in global. EU, New Zealand, Australia, Japan and Taiwan are all follow this standard to develop the electromagnetic wave regulatory standards of handset and base station.


Q&A

The electromagnetic wave of the base station is a non-ionizing radiation with non-thermal effects. Not like nuclear waste and atomic energy that will produce harmful ionizing radiation to human body. The base station electromagnetic wave does not cause radiation damage. So, it’s very safe for the environment as well. Please rest assured.

According to the provisions of National Communications Committee Taiwan, the effective transmit power of the base station shall not exceed 500 watts. (Compare with about 1 million watts of FM radio power, the transmit power of the base station is negligible). Most base stations are far from the adjacent buildings over than 10 meters, the power of electromagnetic wave at least 1000 times lower, please rest assured.

The frequency of the Mobil base station is different from home appliances that we use. The Communication system uses ultra-high frequency band and home appliances frequency band is far apart. it will not cause interference problems. Please rest assured.

Watt (W) is the unit of power, meaning the energy consumed or diverge out per unit time, and can be used as electrical appliances energy consumption measurement units, or the measurement unit of the radiated energy of the electromagnetic wave. The relationship between these three are: 1 watt=103 milliwatt =106 microwatt.

The specific frequency of the base station is called microwave (MW) or radio frequency (RF) radio waves. Usually we measure the plane wave power density, generally written μW / cm2 (microwatt / Square centimeters). We hear constantly that "Gauss (Gauss)" is the measurement unit for the strength of the static magnetostatic field, not correct to use to measure the electromagnetic waves. When using the Guass Meter to measure the magnetic field strength of the electromagnetic wave, the frequency range of the measurement must be less than 500 kHz. But for GSM systems, the frequency of antenna transmission is 900MHz and 1800MHz, both are higher than 500 KHz. Hence it is not correct to measure the magnetostatic field strength of the radio wave with the Gauss meter; also the measured magnetostatic field may be generated by the other power equipment.

According to the “Mobile phone service base station technical verification specification” which is amended on Jan 21, 2000, the standard value of electromagnetic wave safety for base station in Taiwan as below:

  • Standard value for safety of GSM 900 electromagnetic wave is less than or equal to “0.6 mW per square centimeter”
  • Standard value for safety of GSM 1800 electromagnetic wave is less than or equal to “1.2 mW per square centimeter”

The standard value is the same with the standard of IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), and the base stations in Taiwan where rigorous field tested and approved by EPA (Environmental Protection Administration, Taiwan), and the output electromagnetic wave power of base stations were between 0.00000001 and 0.00001 mW per square centimeter which is much lower than standard value, which is absolute safety to people.

UK and Japan formulate similar standard value as Taiwan. Apparently, The regulatory control of the electromagnetic wave in Taiwan is the same prudent and rigorous as advanced countries.

file number of specification in article: C-IT5002-4(IT5002-4)

Environmental Protection Administration Executive Yuan, R.O.C (Taiwan)
National Communications Commission R.O.C (Taiwan)
Office of the Communications Authority (Hong Kong)

Cellular system is integrated by placing the base stations on a grid. A base station covers a designated geographical area with limited transmission power. Radio channel can be reused by spacing base stations with a suitable distance.

Grid coverages are reduced to insert a new station into the cellular system, and transmission power is also saved both in base station and mobile phone. Therefore, electromagnetic power is lower in dense urban which grid size is smaller.

First at all, we shall clarify some concept about radiation. Radiation is divided into three finds.

Category Description
non-ionization radiation Can destroy biological cellular molecule,such as gamma(γ) radiation、X-ray.
2. non-ionization radiation (with thermal effect) Will not destroy biological cellular molecule,but produce temperature changes, visible light, infra-red ray.
3.non-ionization radiation (non-thermal effect) Will not destroy biological cellular molecule and not produce temperature changes, such as radio waves, electromagnetic field

X-rays are in very high frequency segments. The energy of the electromagnetic particles is sufficient to interrupt the chemical bond (ionization). So the X-ray is harmful to the human body.

But in relatively low frequency segments, such as radio waves, the energy of the electromagnetic wave particles is too low and does not interrupt the chemical bond. And so called the radio wave as non-ionization radiation. The biological effects of Non-ionization radiation (radio wave) and ionization radiation (X-ray) are not the same

Absolutely not. The Environment Protection Administration issued a press release on April 25, 2000 indicating that the electromagnetic waves emitted by the base station belong to non-ionizing radiation. After investigation by the commissioned academic research units, the power of the domestic base station electromagnetic waves was below international standards, and will not endanger people’s health. So the Environment Protection Administration did not classify the base station as source of pollution.


User Usage Promotion and Assistance

Safeguarding Internet use for children and youth
  • “Porn Guard” and “Internet Butler” had a total of 9,879 users

To prevent teenagers from browsing porn websites or becoming addicted to the internet, the Porn Guard value-added service was launched in December 2014 to automatically block websites containing pornography, nudity, erotic content, and photos that are not suitable for children or young people to access. The Internet Butler service was launched in December 2015 to prevent internet addiction. This service shuts mobile internet connections off between midnight and 6 a.m. As of the end of 2022, the two services have had 9,879 users. Both "Porn Guard" and "Internet Butler service" provide usage specification instructions to promote our consumers' understanding of product features and application information.

In 2022, there was no violations of health and safety, product labeling and other relevant laws and regulations.

Unlimited internet access to reduce the burden of economically disadvantaged students

In 2021, all sectors of society felt the impact of COVID-19. To avoid getting infected, people went out less, increasing demand for internet data to learn or stay in touch with others. In mid May when the pandemic began, to address the class suspension issue, TWM provided unlimited Internet access to the Ministry of Education for an overall allocation to the economically disadvantaged students, allowing children to stay safe while learning at home. This lessened the impact of the pandemic on learning even though classes were suspended.

Reducing the digital gap to slow down the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

In 2022, all walks of life continued to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. New types of highly contagious viruses continued to spread. The intensification of the pandemic in April has increased the number of confirmed cases. Therefore, home isolation has increased the demand for online contact, remote work and learning. Therefore, the "anti-pandemic package for surfing the Internet with fast internet speed" was launched in April. The fast internet speed fiber $0 trial plan enjoying 1Gbps free for the first month and the fast internet speed plus 6-month short-term contract plan are provided. Also, myVideo, myMusic, mybook, and GFN value-added services are added as bonus gifts. In addition to allowing users to work from home/watch dramas without restrictions, it also allows school children to suspend classes and continue learning during the pandemic prevention period to reduce the impact of the pandemic on learning progress. Also, the prepaid card offers an anti-pandemic discount of NT$500 (equivalent to buying 5 days and getting 5 days free) on the unlimited 4G network for 10 days without slowing down the speed.