Asia Pacific Telecom Co (APTC, 亞太電信集團) said yesterday the board would scrap construction plans for a multi-purpose government complex and would refocus on its core business.
The company was forced to halt the construction project mostly because of the weak financial situation.
APTC was unable to improve its financial structure after failing to fulfill a NT$20 billion (US$622 million) fundraising deal in July.
APTC is the nation’s only telecom operator that provides mobile services on wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) 2000 technology.
The company estimated that it would need to spend at least NT$4 billion on building the government complex.
APTC only made NT$6.62 billion in the first six months this year.
“The company will focus on the telecom core business, as it would need more strength to cope with the challenging telecom market in Taiwan, which has been adversely affected by the global economic downturn,” APTC said in a statement released yesterday.
APTC subsidiary Asia Pacific Online Services Inc (亞太線上), an Internet services provider, won the build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract on Aug. 22 from the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA, 台鐵) after the bidding process was delayed.
“The board decided to halt the BOT project as costs rose after the bidding was postponed for a year. Besides, few companies profit from BOT projects,” APTC said in the statement.
Asia Pacific Online Services obtained the preferential status last month, bidding to build a multi-purpose complex for the government in the next four years where Taipei’s Wanhua railway station is located.
The complex will include a shopping mall and hotel rooms.
The company also won the right to operate the shopping mall for 50 years after construction.
The TRA said Huafu Enterprise Co Ltd (樺福集團), which won second preferential status in the bidding, will have the chance to carry out the BOT project after Asia Pacific Online Service sends formal notification of its withdrawal from the project.
Huafu has recently focused on building complexes adjacent to railway stations.
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