The National Communications and Cyber Security Center (NCCSC) under the Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) received a report from Chunghwa Telecom on the morning of January 3 regarding a submarine cable disruption. The incident occurred in the seabed northeast of Yehliu. Chunghwa Telecom has initiated backup mechanisms through other subsea cables, ensuring that voice circuits, internet services, and enterprise customer services remain unaffected. The damaged cable will be repaired by February 3.

Since its establishment in August 2022, the Ministry has prioritized enhancing the resilience of Taiwan's submarine cable communications. Key initiatives include incentivizing telecommunications operators to build additional submarine cables, implementing diversified backup systems, and adopting multi-layered heterogeneous communication networks to mitigate risks. The Ministry has taken and planned the following measures in response:

1. Promoting New Submarine Cable Construction and Subsidizing Backup Facilities: The Ministry has secured budgets to subsidize operators like Chunghwa Telecom to construct new international subsea cable landing stations and backup facilities. This initiative aims to increase the number of international subsea cables connecting Taiwan to the world.
2. Strengthening Resilience of Existing Subsea Cable Landing Stations: To improve the resilience of current cable infrastructure, the Ministry has allocated budgets for 2024–2025 to assist operators in enhancing the robustness of international internet facilities. The Ministry announced Subsidy guidelines and application forms in August 2024 to facilitate these efforts.
3. Diversified Communication Systems for Backup: 
   • Microwave Backup Mechanism: For the Taiwan-Matsu subsea cable, the Ministry approved the expansion of microwave bandwidth in 2023, enabling Chunghwa Telecom to increase microwave capacity to approximately 12 Gbps, meeting peak-hour demands and ensuring full backup coverage.
   • Satellite Backup Mechanism: As an additional backup layer, the Ministry has assessed satellite resources to support critical communications, including government, military, and essential services, in scenarios where subsea cables and microwaves are unavailable. For instance, the SES medium Earth orbit satellite provides a 90 Mbps downlink and 45 Mbps uplink to strengthen connectivity in Lienchiang County. In contrast, the low Earth orbit satellite of OneWeb supports government and military communications.
4. Guiding critical infrastructure (CI) providers to implement security enhancement measures: In line with the Executive Yuan's National Critical Infrastructure Protection Guidelines, the Ministry supervises telecommunications CI providers to formulate and implement security plans based on risk assessments. Regular exercises strengthen their capacity for prevention, response, and recovery.

In response to the recent cable disruption, Chunghwa Telecom has reported the incident to the Coast Guard Administration. The Ministry will coordinate with relevant agencies, including the Ministry of Justice, the National Communications Commission, and judicial authorities, to enforce telecommunications regulations and ensure the continued operation of Taiwan's international subsea cable infrastructure.