TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) held a press conference on Monday (July 8) announcing low earth orbit (LEO) and medium earth orbit satellite signals cover all of Taiwan, including outlying islands, reaching a milestone in communications resilience.
In the past, when major disasters occurred, mobile communications and internet connectivity were compromised by downed communication towers. This concern, along with the threat of war with China, led MODA to launch a two-year program to strengthen digital resilience.
MODA announced LEO satellites were tested for signal strength at 773 ground terminals across Taiwan, outlying islands, and abroad, ensuring Taiwan's military and political command system can maintain communication capabilities during times of emergency, per CNA.

Cheng Ming-tsung (鄭明宗), director of MODA Department of Communication and Cyber Resilience, said the first step in promoting resiliency has been achieved as LEO satellite coverage is available across Taiwan. He said the second step in developing resiliency will be increasing connection time from the current half-day service to 24-hour connectivity.
Cheng said LEO satellites can provide basic network services such as real-time text messages, voice calls, video calls, and standard-quality videos. At the moment, Cheng said LEO satellite network performance in northern Taiwan offers an average network download speed of 90 Mbps and upload speeds reaching 14 Mbps.
According to Cheng, LEO satellite signals will be tested during this year's 921 National Disaster Preparedness Day, with satellite user terminals playing a central role in coordinating disaster relief drills planned for Penghu and Tainan.
At the moment, MODA’s digital resilience plan focuses on strengthening communications amongst military and political command centers during times of disaster and conflict. Thus, the current LEO satellite service is not available to the general public.
Chen said MODA has allocated several frequencies to LEO satellite agents such as Alcon and Chunghwa Telecom (CHT), but providing commercial services in the future will require approval by the National Communications Commission (NCC) and relevant regulations.