Chunghwa Telecom Co (
Chunghwa Telecom's move came in the wake of the National Communications Commission's (NCC) completion on Thursday of a new pricing formula imposing controls on mobile tariffs.
Under the new rules, local mobile operators have to slash rates for second-generation (2G) services by 4.88 percent per annum to boost market competition and safeguard consumer's interests.
As a whole, tariffs should be cut by 14.64 percent within three years, the NCC ruled.
"The price control measures are unreasonable and against the free competition mechanism. The price adjustment will affect our revenues and profits," Chunghwa Telecom spokesman Hank Wang (
Wang declined to give details on how the measures would adversely impact on the company's bottom line.
In an attempt to get more leeway before the new rules go into effect in April, Chunghwa Telecom said it would make an appeal within two weeks. The service operator added that the rate cuts are coming amid falling revenues and regular price reduction because of stiff competition.
Chunghwa Telecom chairman Hochen Tan (
The company forecast that its annual earnings would fall 7 percent to NT$44.24 billion (US$1.36 billion) on flat revenues of NT$184.2 billion this year.
Chunghwa Telecom also hoped that the commission would limit the rate cut to a year, instead of three, as an incentive for local telecom companies to speed up investment in next-generation technologies and equipment upgrade, it said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Far EasTone Tel-ecommunications Co (遠傳電信) and Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) are seeking help from the Taiwan Telecommunications Industry Development Association (台灣電信產業協會) to persuade the government to adjust the pricing rules.
"We deeply regret the NCC's decision," the association's spokeswoman Rachel Liu (劉莉秋) said. "We will represent local telecom companies in communicating with the government. They did not include some important [capital] spending when they set the pricing rules."
As part of the new price limitation rules, the NCC also requested that local broadband network operators slash leasing rates by 5.35 percent per annum for three years or a total of 16.5 percent.
Chunghwa Telecom, which has over 4 million ADSL subscribers, is the nation's largest broadband service provider.
Shares of Chunghwa Telecom dropped 0.83 percent to NT$59.5 yesterday, while those of Far Eas-Tone and Taiwan Mobile were unchanged at NT$36.8 and NT$32.4, respectively.
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
RSS