Taiwanese regulator NCC plans to probe Taiwan Mobile and Asia-Pacific Telecom (APT) over a 4G roaming partnership that may violate two laws.
The regulator plans to investigate whether the agreement violates Taiwan's Telecommunications Act and Fair Trade Act, the Taipei Timesrevealed.
APT and Taiwan Mobile entered a roaming alliance as part of the former operator's plan to offer 4G services by using established operators' base stations.
But rivals Chunghwa Telecom, Far EasTone and Taiwan Star have petitioned the NCC to investigate the deal, alleging that it violates the Telecommunications Act.
Because APT offers 4G prices at a cheaper rate than Taiwan Mobile's own customers – TW$898 ($29) for an unlimited service, compared to TW$1,399 for Taiwan Mobile users – the agreement could also fall afoul of the Fair Trade Act.
The NCC fears that having two different prices to access the same network could confuse consumers and artificially distort market competition.
An NCC official told the Taipei Times that regulations do not ban all roaming alliances, but the circumstances of this deal could violate the regulations.