Taiwan's Northern Seven Counties Hold First Mobile Network Throttling Drill, Affecting About 17 Million

Taiwan's 2026 Urban Resilience Exercise took place on August 13 from 2:30 to 3:00 p. m. in seven northern counties and cities, featuring the first mobile network throttling drill. When the alert sounded, the disaster warning system sent text messages simultaneously, and 4G and 5G mobile networks were significantly slowed, causing noticeable delays in streaming. At Taipei Main Station, some passengers were unable to use their phones to pass through high-speed rail and metro gates, requiring station staff to assist them with paper tickets or connecting to the station's Wi-Fi.

The drill was estimated to affect about 17 million people, with coverage of about 73%. Earlier, seven central counties and cities had completed a similar drill on August 10. During the exercise, some users measured upload and download speeds dropping to 1 megabit per second, with images taking several seconds to load and short video buffering times noticeably extended. Some residents expressed dissatisfaction after the drill, but overall order was maintained.

The Taiwan Network Information Center said the drill aimed to prepare the public for limited communication resources, noting that even with backup options such as medium- and low-orbit satellites, submarine cables cannot yet be fully replaced. The Presidential Office explained that central and northern Taiwan have the highest mobile phone usage rates and population density, accounting for 73% of the island's total; southern, Hualien-Taitung, and outlying island areas had previously experienced submarine cable breaks and typhoon-related outages, giving them practical experience. During the drill, U. S. personnel were present to observe.