Print

Mail

wiki links

Webs-tv.net, Yam merge to expand Internet services

Webs-tv.net (網絡數碼), the country's largest online multimedia service provider, and online portal Yam Digital Technology Co (蕃薯藤數位科技) are merging their services today, aiming to serve 8.2 million users a month with a variety of broadband-based content and services, company officials said during a press conference on Wednesday.

Officials assured users that there would be no change in the services offered and their rights and interests would be protected.

Webs-tv.net's CEO Morse Chen (陳銘堯) said they plan to spend three to six months integrating their web sites, as well as that of Gigigaga.com which it had earlier acquired from GigaMedia Ltd (和信超媒體).

Whether the two will be further merged into a new brand requires prudent assessment before any decision is made, he said.

Although the two companies refused to give merger details, citing confidentiality, a Commercial Times report last week said the transaction was worth NT$290 million (US$8.8 million).

Yam would get NT$230 million in cash and NT$60 million in stock from webs-tv.net, it said.

Yam will hold a 6.6 percent stake in webs-tv.net and secure one seat on its board, it added.

While webs-tv.net's chief executive officer Morse Chen would stay on in his post, Chen Jen-ran (陳正然) would leave his position as Yam's CEO and take up a seat on webs-tv.net's board. Yam's vice president Hsiao Ching-teng (蕭景燈) would also move on to be a vice president at webs-tv.net.

No layoffs will occur as there is little overlap in their operations, Morse Chen said.

Vowing to make the new entity the biggest online multimedia portal in the greater China region, he said they plan to export Taiwanese soap operas and variety shows by placing video clips on the Web site.

Chen Jen-ran added that there was great potential as Taiwan now has 4 million broadband subscribers and this is expected to jump to 6 million by 2008.

"The Internet world is changing in the blink of an eye and cooperating with webs-tv.net is bound to help us achieve more and is faster than doing it our-selves," Chen Jen-ran said.

Despite his explanation, many sighed at Yam's decision to merge with a Web new star. Yam, which set up the first local search engine in 1995, has fallen to third place among local portals.
This story has been viewed 1360 times.