Chunghwa Telecom plans to increase capital spending

State-run Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) plans to raise capital spending this year to meet demand for its new third-generation (3G) mobile services and broadband service, a company executive said yesterday.

"Our capital expenditure will increase this year," Chunghwa Telecom chairman Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) said yesterday.

Upgrade

The company plans to spend NT$23.6 billion (US$742 million) on upgrading infrastructure and purchasing new equipment this year, up 4.4 percent from NT$22.6 billion last year.

Most of the money will be used for the deployment of 3G services and broadband infrastructure, said Mark Lee (李銘淵), a senior managing director at Chunghwa Telecom.

The company is scheduled to debut its high-speed 3G service in the second quarter for its 8.2 million mobile-phone users.

Chunghwa Telecom is also transforming its 300 service centers around the nation into more customer-oriented outlets in preparation for the launch of the 3G service, Hochen said.

"Customers will be able to test the 3G services, mostly value-added services, at those outlets. Our salespeople will give instructions," he said.

Faster Broadband

Aside from the 3G infrastructure, the money will also be used for the deployment of optic fibers to provide broadband users with speedier transmission than the current copper cables, the firm said.

Chunghwa Telecom now has more than 3 million ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) subscribers, grabbing over 70 percent of Taiwan's broadband market. It expects its ADSL users to rise by 500,000 households, or 16 percent, this year.