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First International raises funds for WiMAX network

First International Telecom Corp (大眾電信), the nation's only mobile operator on PHS low-power systems, said yesterday it had raised NT$810 million (US$26.2 million) via a private placement to finance the deployment of a high-speed WiMAX network.

First International, which won a license last July to provide WiMAX service in the northern part of the country, received the cash injection by selling about 90 million common shares, part of which came from new investors.

Among the local subscribers are chipmaker United Microelectronics Co (UMC, 聯電) and local mobile phone makers Inventec Appliances Corp (英華達) and Wistron NeWeb Corp, company president Charlie Wu (吳清源) said by telephone yesterday.

UMC bought a 8.01 million shares for a total of NT$72.09 million through its venture capital arm and an investment fund of its chip designer affiliate, Faraday Technology Corp (智原), company statements filed to the Taiwan Stock Exchange showed.

"We are glad to complete the first phase of the fundraising, collecting NT$810 million by selling shares at NT$9 each," Wu said.

Though UMC's holding in First International will be small, it will be enough for the company to use the Taiwanese market as a testing ground for the WiMAX chips made by Faraday, Wu said.

First International also planned to wrap up the second phase of its share sales by the end of May, setting a higher price at NT$12.5 a share, Wu said.

First International planned to raise NT$1.63 billion by issuing 130 million new common shares, targeting overseas venture capitals, rather than telecom equipment providers as speculated over the past months, Wu said.

After the share sales, the telecom company's capital will rise to about NT$6.1 billion, Wu said.

To facilitate share sales with the goal of introducing strategic partners, First International stopped trading on the over-the-counter market last September. The telecom firm has said it would not rule out the possibility of relisting on the local bourse in the future.
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