Shareholders of Vibo Telecom Co (
The losses are heavy in proportion to the telecom's NT$15 billion in share capital.
Vibo has repeatedly missed its break-even targets because of slower-than-expected uptake of 3G service in Taiwan on the back of pricey 3G handsets.
Even the industry's leader, Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), has admitted that it has not pulled in any profits yet from its 3G service.
Setting a more practical goal this time, Vibo yesterday said it "aims to break even by August, next year," according to Vivian Lin (
Vibo previously had hoped to become profitable in September, 22 months after its commercial launch.
To improve its financial situation, Vibo plans to raise NT$6 billion in funds by selling new shares to one or more strategic partners in the second half of this year, Lin said by telephone.
Vibo's ex-president, David Wang (王柏堂), resigned last December after failing to turn around the company. Vice chairman James Tsao (曹萬鈞) now also doubles as Vibo's president.
Vibo hopes to expand its customer base from 470,000 to 800,000 by the end of this year, Lin said.
Chunghwa Telecom says that it has more than 1.52 million 3G users out of its 8 million subscribers.
The nation's No. 2 and No. 3 mobile operators, Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) and Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) respectively, said that they each have 1 million 3G subscribers.
Last week, Vibo tendered an application to bid a Worldwide interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) in cooperation with local telecom equipment provider Tecom Co (
The nation's telecom regulator, the National Communications Commission, is scheduled to unveil the application result in early August.
"We hope the WiMAX network will supplement our 3G service," Lin said.
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