The Ministry of Digital Development of the Republic of China (Taiwan) received a report at 5:34 am today (22nd) that the Taiwan-Matsu No. 2 submarine cable was preliminarily determined to be in a state of cable breakage due to core wire aging. Additionally, the Taiwan-Matsu No. 3 submarine cable had previously reported a complete obstacle, thus the Ministry has requested Chunghwa Telecom to activate microwave backup communication between Taiwan and Matsu as soon as possible, while coordinating the repair of the Taiwan-Matsu No. 2 and No. 3 submarine cables.
In response to the report, the Ministry of Digital Development of the Republic of China stated that the National Communications and Cyber Security Center (NCCSC) received a notification from Chunghwa Telecom Limited this morning at 6:00 a.m., reporting a domestic submarine cable breakage off the coast of New Taipei City. Immediate backup with microwave technology was activated to ensure that voice circuits and internet services covered by the original station were not affected. Depending on sea conditions, the repair is expected to be completed as early as February.
Following the report, the Ministry of Digital Development of the Republic of China requested Chunghwa Telecom to activate backup measures in accordance with its Critical Infrastructure (CI) Security Protection Plan. A sufficient amount of microwave bandwidth (12.6Gbps, higher than the usual peak traffic flow in the Matsu area of 9.5Gbps) will be prioritized to provide communication services to critical infrastructure such as government agencies, banks, hospitals, to ensure that essential services for the public are not disrupted. Local residents will still be able to withdraw cash from ATMs and carry out uninterrupted transactions with credit cards and online banking services during the Lunar New Year period.
Moreover, the Ministry of Digital Development of the Republic of China pointed out that through the “Strengthening Communication Network Digital Resilience with Emerging Technologies in Emergency or Wartime Applications Project” conducted in the Lienchiang region between 112-113 (2023-2024), nine asynchronous satellite stations were established for use by the Lienchiang County government, disaster relief systems, and other units. After the submarine cable incident, subsidized units were notified to activate the asynchronous satellite stations through the Telecom Technology Center (TTC) as a backup for microwave communication to ensure the basic and secure communication capabilities of the government command system.
In light of the repeated disruptions to the Taiwan-Matsu submarine cable in recent years, the Ministry of Digital Development of the Republic of China stated that in 113, it sought approval from the Executive Yuan to include the Taiwan-Matsu submarine cable as a key asset of Critical Infrastructure (CI). Apart from supervising CI implementers to develop and implement security protection plans in response to the full spectrum of disaster risks and threats they face, and urging telecommunications companies to strengthen communication network resilience on outlying islands with a “backup of the backup” approach. This is to provide diverse and heterogeneous communication backup and contingency mechanisms.
Furthermore, through the “Enhancement of Broadband Access Environment in Rural Areas Project” in 113, the Ministry of Digital Development subsidized Chunghwa Telecom to expand microwave capacity to 12.6 Gbps, as the main backup for submarine cables. Additionally, it provided funding for Chunghwa Telecom to establish the Taiwan-Matsu No. 4 submarine cable, with the aim of increasing communication routes and mitigating risks via the new cable. Scheduled for completion in June of 115, this will enhance the overall network reliability and service quality between Taiwan and Matsu.