3G helps Chunghwa increase revenues

Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), the nation's biggest telecom operator, yesterday posted an 11 percent expansion in net income for last month, helped primarily by the growth in its third-generation (3G) mobile business.

Approximately years after the launch of its 3G services, subscriber numbers rose to exceed 1 million last month, compared with the accumulated total of 943,000 users in December, according to the latest statistics from Chunghwa Telecom.

The telecom carrier signed up 850,000 3G subscribers last year and aims to expand the figure to 2.2 million by the end of this year.

Net climbed to NT$5 billion (US$151.6 million), or NT$0.52 per share, compared with NT$4.5 billion, or NT$0.46 a share, a year earlier, Chunghwa Telecom said. Revenues grew 1.1 percent year on year to NT$15.4 billion, according to a company statement.

"The growth in 3G subscribers would be part of the reason behind the growth because of higher average revenue per user [ARPU]," said Shen Fu-fu (沈馥馥), an official at Chunghwa Telecom's investor relations department.

The 3G ARPU is at about NT$1,100, compared to blended ARPU of less than NT$800 for 2G subscribers, the telecom company said.

Chunghwa Telecom now has 8.5 million mobile subscribers, including 1.06 million 3G users. The mobile business accounted for about 40 percent of the company's total revenues.

Besides growth in other areas, including the broadband business, offset the decline in the landline phone business, Shen said. Broadband subscribers grew to 4.06 million last month.

For the full year, Chunghwa Telecom's earnings dropped nearly 3 percent to NT$44.89 billion from NT$46.23 billion, on stiff competition in the nation's saturated telecoms market.

Chunghwa Telecom's earnings last month beat both smaller rivals Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) and Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信).

Far EasTone, the nation's second-largest mobile carrier, yesterday said last month's pretax income amounted to NT$1.23 billion, or NT$0.29 per share, without providing comparative figures.

Taiwan Mobile, the No. 3 mobile operator, reported 11.42 percent lower net profits for last month at NT$1.24 billion, or NT$0.25 per share, from NT$1.4 billion, or NT$0.28 a share, a year ago.

Taiwan Mobile blamed lower mobile usage and higher taxes for the decline. The company expected first quarter pre-tax profit to grow 20.5 percent to NT$4.2 billion from the fourth quarter.

Chunghwa Telecom shares rose 0.47 percent to NT$64.1 yesterday.

The share prices of Far EasTone and Taiwan Mobile gained 1.18 percent and 0.94 percent to finish at NT$38.55 and NT$32.3, respectively.