Consumers will now have a choice between a state-run Goliath, Chunghwa Telecom (中華電信), or upstart Eastern Broadband Telecommunications (東森電信) when placing long-distance telephone calls.
Eastern became the first private company to offer long-distance services yesterday -- ending a decades-old government monopoly on overseas communications and allowing consumers to tap into lower rates.
Consumers now have a choice to continue dialing Chunghwa's "002" code before placing an outgoing international call. Or they can dial Eastern's "005" code, provided they enter into a billing agreement with the company.
During its first two months of service, Eastern is offering 51 percent savings on international calls compared to Chunghwa's rates. For domestic long-distance calls, rates are 35 percent lower. Consumers receive the lower rates by dialing a "1805" prefix.
Eastern has set its calling rates to China at NT$4.85 per minute, while calls to the US and Canada will be NT$2.79 per minute during the two-month promotional period, depending on the package a consumer chooses.
Signing up with the new company is free. But consumers must complete a billing agreement first, which can be obtained by calling the company at 080-005-1805 or by visiting its Chinese-language Web site at ebtelco.com.tw.
Taiwan's telecom deregulation should continue to bode well for consumers.
In April, Chunghwa reduced its rates in anticipation of new competition.
Local long-distance calls dropped by 18 percent, while international dialing rates were cut by 37 percent worldwide -- including a 57 percent reduction on calls to China and 54 percent on calls to Hong Kong, Canada and the US.
All three of Chunghwa's new rivals -- Eastern Broadband, Taiwan Fixed Network (台灣固網) and New Century Infocomm (新世紀資通), also known as Sparq (速博) -- have inked interconnection agreements to gain access to the state-run firm's phone network.
But with the exception of Eastern yesterday, the firms have been left on hold due to technical difficulties.
"We have finished testing with Eastern Broadband to connect them to our lines, but Taiwan Fixed Network and Sparq still have problems with their billing systems," said Hsu An-ling (許安玲), public relations manager at Chunghwa.
Hsu couldn't say when the other two companies will be hooked up to the network.
Officials at the Ministry of Transportation and Communications also said problems with the new firms' computerized billing systems and switching equipment were the causes of the connection delays.
"If the tests go okay, then they will be connected," said Tony Teng (
Market watchers, who declined to be identified, claim that Chunghwa is deliberately dragging its feet in connecting its competitors, saying the industry incumbent has "withheld access to its network in order to stymie competition."
Shares in Chunghwa fell yesterday, in part in reaction to news of the new competition.
Chunghwa closed at NT$48 per share, down 1.2 percent. That's 54 percent lower than its NT$104 initial offering price in October.
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