Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (FET, 遠傳電信), the nation’s third-biggest telecom, yesterday said it aims to have 1 million 4G subscribers by the end of the year, acquiring a third of the nation’s 4G market.
The company’s statement came after Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), the nation’s No. 1 telecom, said on Oct. 20 that it maintained its target to seize 40 percent of the 4G market the by the year end.
Far EasTone has about 700,000 4G users, vice president Maxwell Cheng (鄭智衡) told reporters yesterday.
Cheng said he expects there to be 3 million 4G users in the nation by the end of the year, accounting for 13 percent of all mobile users.
Far EasTone president Yvonne Li (李彬) expects the number of 4G users to rise significantly, if the supply of Apple Inc’s iPhone 6 smartphones rises to meet demand beginning next month.
“The shortage of iPhone 6 handsets in Taiwan is because of strong demand in the US and Europe, as consumers there increase purchases before the Christmas holiday,” Li said. “We think we still have a chance to increase our 4G clients from next month until the Lunar New Year, if we can source more iPhone 6 handsets.”
Li said the company would price its 4G service “competitively,” adding that future price adjustments would be based on moves by its peers.
By spending NT$13 billion (US$423.51 million) this year, Far EasTone has completed the infrastructure for 4G service on the 1,800 megahertz (MHz) frequency band and it is set to start building small-cell base stations for service on the 2,600MHz band next year, Li said.
Far EasTone was the first telecom in the nation to set up stores for direct sales, and all personnel in the stores are permanent employees, Far EasTone vice president Samuel Yuan (袁興) said.
Cheng said Far EasTone has 500 such stores, accounting for 50 percent of total stores.
The company plans to keep the percentage of direct-sales stores at 50 percent in the long term, he added.
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