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Far EasTone set to offer Wi-Fi service in coming months

Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信), the nation's second-biggest mobile operator, intends to offer a Wi-Fi service later this year to spur stagnant growth amid a saturating telecoms market, a company executive said yesterday.

In February, Far EasTone bought a 51 percent stake in the spin-off Wi-Fi unit of Q-ware Systems and Services Corp (安源資訊) for NT$496 million (US$15.1 million). The newly created Q-WARE Communications (安源通訊) is slated to begin offering mobile phone services on Far EasTone's network next month.

Q-WARE Communications operates the "Wifly" wireless Internet access service in Taipei City.

"The overall [telecoms] market in Taiwan is increasingly saturated. The dynamic of the market is slowing down, pushing us ? to offer new services to create [new] energy for the market," Far EasTone president Jan Nilsson said.

Starting in the third quarter, Far EasTone will integrate Q-WARE Communications' Wi-Fi service into the company's product offerings, along with other new services, Nilsson said.

Some 22 million people out of the nation's 23 million are mobile phone users, government statistics showed.

Car drivers and households would be potential new customers for Far EasTone, the company said, without giving details.

The new Wi-Fi services could offer another option for Far EasTone users to connect to the Internet cheaply through their laptop computers in certain locations without using a mobile phone data card or allow subscribers to place calls using a Wi-Fi connection at home.

Far EasTone posted a 9.51 percent drop in consolidated revenues for the first five months to NT$26.22 billion, from NT$28.98 billion a year ago.

Q-WARE Communications could benefit from the intensive sales network owned by one of its major shareholders, President Chain Store Corp (統一超商), which holds a 22 percent share in Q-WARE Communications and operates more than 4,000 7-Eleven outlets across the country.

Uni-President Enterprises Corp (統一企業) owns the remaining 27 percent.
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