Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) is studying the possibility of investing in the telecom markets of India and Indonesia, company chairman Richard Tsai (蔡明興) said at the annual general meeting.
Tsai told shareholders that the two markets offer good potential for growth, so the company is evaluating opportunities to invest there.
He said that while India already has many telecom services providers, leading to intense competition and a price war, it has a huge population, creating business opportunities, in particular in data transmission, which is expected to rise.
Photo: CNA
Tsai said that Taiwan Mobile is evaluating the likelihood of teaming up with local telecom operators to win a slice of the 4G market at a time when the Indian market is migrating to 4G technology.
However, any plans about investment in India still needs time to be finalized, he said.
In addition to the expansion in telecom services overseas, Tsai said that Taiwan Mobile has been eying the e-commerce potential in Southeast Asia, adding that Momo.com Inc (富邦媒), its e-commerce subsidiary, has been gearing up to explore the markets in the Philippines and Vietnam.
In particular, Momo.com is seeking a business partner in the Philippines and an agreement on a strategic partnership is expected to be reached by the end of this year, he said.
Taiwan Mobile holds a 51 percent stake in Momo.com, which has been listed on the local main board since December 2014.
In Thailand, Momo.com owns a 35 percent stake in e-commerce operator TVD Shopping.
Tsai said that TVD Shopping has become profitable and is planning to file an application next year to list its shares in Thailand’s stock market.
In Taiwan, Taiwan Mobile is determined to develop its third-party payment business, Tsai said, adding that the company is planning to start an over-the-top (OTT) content business by signing up for good drama series and movies from across the Taiwan Strait.
OTT content can be transmitted through delivery of audio, video and other media over the Internet without the involvement of a multiple-system operator.
Tsai said that Taiwan Mobile has set a target of boosting the number of its 4G subscribers to 5 million next year, up from 3 million at the end of last year, by encouraging existing 2G and 3G subscribers to migrate to 4G.
Shareholders approved a proposal for Taiwan Mobile to distribute NT$5.6 in cash dividends based on last year’s earnings per share of NT$5.76 for a payout ratio of 97 percent.
A proposed 100 percent tariff on chip imports announced by US President Donald Trump could shift more of Taiwan’s semiconductor production overseas, a Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) researcher said yesterday. Trump’s tariff policy will accelerate the global semiconductor industry’s pace to establish roots in the US, leading to higher supply chain costs and ultimately raising prices of consumer electronics and creating uncertainty for future market demand, Arisa Liu (劉佩真) at the institute’s Taiwan Industry Economics Database said in a telephone interview. Trump’s move signals his intention to "restore the glory of the US semiconductor industry," Liu noted, saying that
On Ireland’s blustery western seaboard, researchers are gleefully flying giant kites — not for fun, but in the hope of generating renewable electricity and sparking a “revolution” in wind energy. “We use a kite to capture the wind and a generator at the bottom of it that captures the power,” said Padraic Doherty of Kitepower, the Dutch firm behind the venture. At its test site in operation since September 2023 near the small town of Bangor Erris, the team transports the vast 60-square-meter kite from a hangar across the lunar-like bogland to a generator. The kite is then attached by a
Foxconn Technology Co (鴻準精密), a metal casing supplier owned by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), yesterday announced plans to invest US$1 billion in the US over the next decade as part of its business transformation strategy. The Apple Inc supplier said in a statement that its board approved the investment on Thursday, as part of a transformation strategy focused on precision mold development, smart manufacturing, robotics and advanced automation. The strategy would have a strong emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI), the company added. The company said it aims to build a flexible, intelligent production ecosystem to boost competitiveness and sustainability. Foxconn
Leading Taiwanese bicycle brands Giant Manufacturing Co (巨大機械) and Merida Industry Co (美利達工業) on Sunday said that they have adopted measures to mitigate the impact of the tariff policies of US President Donald Trump’s administration. The US announced at the beginning of this month that it would impose a 20 percent tariff on imported goods made in Taiwan, effective on Thursday last week. The tariff would be added to other pre-existing most-favored-nation duties and industry-specific trade remedy levy, which would bring the overall tariff on Taiwan-made bicycles to between 25.5 percent and 31 percent. However, Giant did not seem too perturbed by the