The nation's leading telecom operator, Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), said yesterday it would target 1 million subscribers for its third-generation (3G) mobile phone service by the end of next year.
"The market acceptance of the 3G service is better than expected,"said Shih Mu-piao (
"Chunghwa Telecom is confident that the subscriber size will reach 1 million by the end of next year," Shih said.
Chunghwa Telecom, the nation's largest mobile phone operator, had originally targeted a 3G clientele of between 500,000 to 600,000 by the end of next year, Shih said.
The company has gained some 280,000 3G mobile phone subscribers since its launch of the 3G service in July, compared with its year-end goal of 100,000.
Including those using the 3G service, Chunghwa Telecom now has a total of 8.1 million mobile subscribers, accounting for about 40 percent of the market.
"Chunghwa Telecom will no doubt benefit from a larger 3G subscriber base due to the higher average revenue per user [ARPU]," Shih said.
The 3G ARPU is now around NT$1,300 for Chunghwa Telecom, compared with NT$800 for its combined mobile phone services.
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