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Chunghwa Telecom to sell mobile Internet devices

Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), the nation’s biggest telecom operator, yesterday said it planned to sell mobile Internet devices (MID) made by local motherboard maker Gigabyte Technology Co (技嘉) begining next month to boost usage of mobile Internet services.

Chunghwa Telecom is working with handset makers and PC makers including Apple Inc, HTC Corp (宏達電) and Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) in selling tailor-made smartphones and low-cost laptops to increase mobile Internet revenues to offset revenue decline in voice service.

The cooperation with Gigabyte will mark the first time a Taiwanese telecom operator has sold MID products bundling mobile services, which follows similar moves by global peers.

“We hope to offer a broader lineup to meet our customers’ growing need of connecting to the Internet on mobile devices,” Chunghwa Telecom president Chang Shaio-tung (張曉東) told reporters.

The telecom operator has said it was scheduled to sell the much-anticipated iPhone later this year.

Chunghwa Telecom said mobile service revenues dropped 2 percent for the first three quarters to NT$54.58 billion (US$1.66 billion), while revenues from mobile Internet services expanded nearly 50 percent, thanks to fast-growing demand for its data cards in notebook computers.

“With a bigger 4.8-inch screen and high-speed Internet connection, MIDs are able to provide a better PC-like Internet experience than other mobile devices,” Chang said.

The deepening economic slowdown apparently did not slow Chunghwa Telecom’s spending on handset subsidies for high-end models and capital spending.

“The capex for next year will be similar to the amount for this year,” Chang said.

Chunghwa Telecom plans to spend NT$32 billion on new equipment mostly for building fiber optic networks and increasing 3.5-generation base stations to 6,000 units by the year-end.

Gigabyte’s MID will be available at Senao International Co’s (神腦國際) outlets on Dec. 6 for NT$12,900 and a two-year contract with a minimum of NT$850 per month. The MID originally carried a price tag of NT$19,500.

Senao is a handset retailing arm of Chunghwa Telecom.

The phone company said it was also in talks with BenQ Corp (明基) to sell its MIDs. BenQ launched its first MID in September for Italian telecom operator Tim.

Both BenQ and Gigabyte’s MIDs are based on Intel’s latest Atom processors.
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