Far EasTone Telecommunications Co Ltd (遠傳電信) yesterday said it was the first local telecom to complete data voice call testing on a 5G trial network, signaling that Taiwan has made progress toward launching 5G services.
The nation’s No. 3 telecom said it used the 3.5GHz spectrum to complete a live high-quality data call from a 4G phone to 5G equipment belonging to Ericsson AB at the Taipei Far Eastern Telecom Park in New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋).
The test provided crucial data regarding network deployment ahead of the commercial launch of 5G technology, the company said.
Far EasTone said in December last year that it might launch 5G services in the second half of 2020 at the earliest, depending on when the National Communications Commission released 5G licenses.
The company’s 5G test call was made using evolved packet core technology, which reduces communication latency and prevents fragmentation, Far EasTone said, adding that it is considered crucial for the launch of voice over 5G (Vo5G) services.
The Vo5G is key for next-generation apps and services, as well as autonomous vehicles, smart cities and smart factories, the company said.
To facilitate the adoption of 5G services, Far EasTone has built 5G ecosystems with its partners, including telecom equipment supplier Sercomm Corp (中磊), Alpha Networks Inc (明泰) and Gemtek Technology Co (正文), as well as hardware maker Quanta Computer Inc (廣達).
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last