Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), the nation’s biggest wireless service provider, yesterday said it wants to entice half of its high-speed broadband users into subscribing to its new 4K pay-TV service this year.
It is a renewed effort by Chunghwa Telecom after company chairman David Cheng (鄭優) took office in December last year, leveraging his multi-year experience in the media industry.
The company’s pay-TV business has posted losses since its launch in 2004. Cheng attributed the performance to scant content on the company’s multimedia-on-demand (MOD) platform, as well as unfair market competition.
The company plans to roll out 4K TV programs in the final quarter of this year in collaboration with content providers and channel operators at home and abroad including sports broadcasts from local Internet content aggregator Elta Technology Co (愛爾達科技), Cheng said.
Chunghwa will be the first among local providers in offering 4K programs, it said.
“With the launch, we hope the service will boost our MOD business and allow us to compete fairly with rivals,” Cheng told a media briefing.
He said he aims to turn the company’s MOD business around within two years.
The company will also considering investing in 4K content providers to enrich content, Cheng said.
Broadband users who subscribe to Internet connection at speeds of 300 megabits per second can pre-order the 4K service ahead of its soft launch in June.
The company hopes to lure 50 percent of its 40,000 high-speed subscribers to the service, Cheng said.
Commenting on escalating pricing competition, Cheng said the company is likely to continue offering low-cost service packages for limited periods, like a pop-up store.
The company attracted 20,000 new mobile subscribers by launching a NT$499 monthly 4G rate plan for unlimited data usage on Friday.
The service was only available for about 20 hours.
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