Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), the nation's biggest telecom operator, said yesterday it hopes to broadcast TV programs via broadband networks using Microsoft Corp's Internet television software as part of a broader plan to expand its TV business.
Chunghwa Telecom is set to sign a memorandum of understanding with Microsoft today to jointly explore the digital home market, Chang Yi-fong (
"Under the agreement, Chunghwa Telecom will participate in the initial-stage trial of Microsoft's Internet TV software, dubbed `Microsoft TV,'" Chang said.
big names
Some big names in the telecom industry were collaborating with Microsoft in developing the Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) business and Chunghwa Telecom hoped to gain a better understanding of Microsoft's product, Chang said.
Chungwha Telecom currently delivers its digital TV programs using set-top boxes based on French-US telecom equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent's IPTV platform, and plans to purchase another 150,000 of the units next month.
Chang declined to comment on how much the telecom operator would need to spend to replace all of its Alcatel-Lucent IPTV equipment.
"We are evaluating different possibilities including using both platforms," Chang said.
content
To improve its digital content to compete with cable TV operators, Chunghwa Telecom last month acquired a major stake in the local content aggregator Elta Technology Co Ltd (愛爾達科技) and animation company Spring House Entertainment Inc (春水堂科技) last summer.
Chunghwa Telecom is hoping to increase its number of IPTV subscribers to around 600,000 this year, from a base of 310,000, Chang said.
This should allow the company to make a profit on the service since it had previously estimated that it would need to attract 500,000 subscribers to break even.
The IPTV business currently accounts for a minimal portion of the telecom operator's total revenues at NT$46.32 billion (US$1.39 billion) for the first three months of the year.
Shares of Chunghwa Telecom declined by 0.63 percent to close at NT$62.9 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday, underperforming the benchmark TAIEX index's 1.34-percent gain.
EXPANSION: The investment came as ASE in July told investors it would accelerate capacity growth to mitigate supply issues, and would boost spending by 16 percent ASE Technology Holding Co (ASE, 日月光投控), the world’s biggest chip assembly and testing service provider, yesterday said it is investing NT$17.6 billion (US$578.6 million) to build a new advanced chip packaging facility in Kaohsiung to cope with fast-growing demand from artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance-computing (HPC) and automotive applications. The new fab, called K18B, is to commence operation in the first quarter of 2028, offering chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) chip packaging and final testing services, ASE said in a statement. The fab is to create 2,000 new jobs upon its completion, ASE said. A wide spectrum of system-level chip packaging technologies would be available at
Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves hit a record high at the end of last month, surpassing the US$600 billion mark for the first time, the central bank said yesterday. Last month, the country’s foreign exchange reserves rose US$5.51 billion from a month earlier to reach US$602.94 billion due to an increase in returns from the central bank’s portfolio management, the movement of other foreign currencies in the portfolio against the US dollar and the bank’s efforts to smooth the volatility of the New Taiwan dollar. Department of Foreign Exchange Director-General Eugene Tsai (蔡炯民)said a rate cut cycle launched by the US Federal Reserve
HEAVYWEIGHT: The TAIEX ended up 382.67 points, with about 280 of those points contributed by TSMC shares alone, which rose 2.56 percent to close at NT$1,400 Shares in Taiwan broke records at the end of yesterday’s session after contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) hit a fresh closing-high amid enthusiasm toward artificial intelligence (AI) development, dealers said. The TAIEX ended up 382.67 points, or 1.45 percent, at the day’s high of 26,761.06. Turnover totaled NT$463.09 billion (US$15.22 billion). “The local main board has repeatedly hit new closing highs in the past few sessions as investors continued to embrace high hopes about AI applications, taking cues from a strong showing in shares of US-based AI chip designer Nvidia Corp,” Hua Nan Securities Co (華南永昌證券) analyst Kevin Su
Nvidia Corp’s major server production partner Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) reported 10.99 percent year-on-year growth in quarterly sales, signaling healthy demand for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. Revenue totaled NT$2.06 trillion (US$67.72 billion) in the last quarter, in line with analysts’ projections, a company statement said. On a quarterly basis, revenue was up 14.47 percent. Hon Hai’s businesses cover four primary product segments: cloud and networking, smart consumer electronics, computing, and components and other products. Last quarter, “cloud and networking products delivered strong growth, components and other products demonstrated significant growth, while smart consumer electronics and computing products slightly declined,” compared with the
RSS