Far EasTone to launch 3.5G next month

Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信), the nation's second-biggest mobile operator, yesterday said it planned to lunch its first 3.5-generation (3.5G) service next month.

This would make Far EasTone the first local wireless telecom service provider to offer the high-speed 3.5G service on mobile phones.

Far EasTone started offering 3.5G service for computer users last October.

Far EasTone has been the most aggressive telecom player in deploying 3.5G -- or High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) -- technology.

The telecom company said the number of its 3.5G base stations would expand to 3,000 units by the end of this year, boosting coverage to 75 percent of the nation's population of 23 million.

The company on Jan. 10 reported it had made sales valued at NT$5.58 billion (US$169.3 million) last month and estimated last year's revenues to have reached NT$67.23 billion

Its bigger rival, Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), raked in NT$184.39 billion and smaller peer Taiwan Mobile Corp (台灣大哥大) reported NT$58.92 billion for last year.