Far EasTone aiming to overtake rivals

Models display an HP laptop and an enlarged cellphone contract at Far EasTone's 10th anniversary celebration in Taipei yesterday. PHOTO: WANG YI-HUNG, TAIPEI TIMES.

Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信), the nation's third-largest telecom service provider, yesterday said it aimed to outgrow its rivals next year by broadening its product portfolio to include home broadband and other services.

In pursuit of growth in the maturing telecommunications market, local operators have been aggressively extending their business outside traditional mobile telecom services this year through mergers and acquisitions.

"You will see growth in usage, but you will also see pressure on price," Far EasTone president Jan Nilsson said on the sidelines of a celebration marking the company's 10-year anniversary.

Overall, local telecom companies will continue to see relatively flat revenues, Nilsson said.

Far EasTone, however, will see growth next year, he said.

"Far EasTone's target is to outgrow its competitors," Nilsson said.

To broaden its sources of revenue, the nation's biggest phone company, Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), has invested in overseas markets such as Vietnam, revitalized its massive real estate assets and acquired local mobile content aggregator Elta Technology Co (愛爾達科技).

"Far EasTone's situation is different," Nilsson said.

Far EasTone will stick to its core telecom business and attempt to stimulate growth within the business by expanding its product lineup to include rapidly developing markets, including home broadband and Internet services, Nilsson said.

To tap into the home broadband market, Far EasTone has spent NT$496 million (US$15 million) on a 51 percent stake in a spin-off Wi-Fi unit of Q-ware Systems and Services Corp (安源資訊).

The wireless unit was renamed as Q-WARE Communications (安源通訊).

Nilsson said that Far EasTone is working with a local handset maker to launch a new WiFi phone featuring global positioning system (GPS) service, DVB-T TV functionality, as well as other functions.

Separately, Far EasTone said that it planned to launch Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) services late next year or in the beginning of 2009 as requested by the nation's telecom regulator.

Far EasTone was the only major mobile phone operator to secure a WiMAX license in the July auction.

That auction saw the National Communications Commission on July 26 award WiMAX licenses to Far EasTone and five smaller rival service providers.

Chunghwa Telecom and Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) failed in their bids.

The license will allow each company to offer WiMAX services for six years, the commission said at the time.

Far EasTone said yesterday that it planned to spend NT$5 billion on building a WiMAX network to offer the service in southern Taiwan, for which it received the license.

Far EasTone also hopes to cooperate with one or more of the five other WiMAX license holders to offer the services in other areas, Nilsson said.