Local wireless service provider Global Mobile Corp (全球一動) yesterday launched high-speed fourth-generation (4G) WiMAX services in Hsinchu, paving the way for the expansion of coverage to populous Taipei next year.
That made Global Mobile the third of the nation’s WiMAX license holders to launch the service after Tatung InfoComm Co (大同電信) in June and Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) on Tuesday.
Global Mobile said it was expanding its network to northern Taiwan and the service would be first available in Taipei’s Neihu Technology Park (內湖科技園區), a second home to some of the nation’s major electronics companies such as Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶電腦), in the first quarter of next year.
To fund the deployment, the telecoms company said it planned to raise NT$1.5 billion (US$46 million) in the second quarter of next year, probably by issuing new shares.
The telecom company has NT$1.2 billion in share capital.
Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), the nation’s biggest phone company, did not win a WiMAX license in the 2007 bidding and holds an approximate 11-percent stake in Global Mobile.
In total, Global Mobile budgeted more than NT$3 billion in capital spending, mostly on network deployment and purchase of base stations, for the 2009-2010 period, company chairwoman Rosemary Ho (何薇玲) told reporters yesterday.
“We will learn from our experience in Hsinchu and gradually expand the coverage to various districts of Taipei,” Ho said.
The company said it hoped to attract 60,000 to 70,000 subscribers — 15 percent of the population in Hsinchu — within two years of the launch, Ho said.
The company said it needed to build at least 1,000 base stations to make high-speed Internet access fully available in the greater Taipei area.
Global Mobile hopes to complete full WiMAX coverage in northern Taiwan in two-and-a-half to three years, Ho said.
Two-and-a-half years ago, Global Mobile won one of six WiMAX licenses issued by the National Communications Commission to deploy WiMAX network in Hsinchu, Taipei and Taoyuan.
Global Mobile said yesterday it was offering free WiMAX services with speed starting at 4 megabits per second for subscribers, targeting notebook computer users.
Consumers can sign up for Global Mobile services for monthly charges of NT$179 for 15 hours of Internet access a month, plus a two-year service contract, or NT$679 a month for unlimited use.
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