Meanwhile, the revenues generated by 3G service have shot up from NT$58 billion in 2007 to NT$130 billion last year, while revenues generated by 2G services fell drastically from NT$154.8 billion in 2007 to NT$82 billion.
Professor Jason Lin (林一平) of the electrical engineering department at National Chiao Tung University said telecoms companies would survive after the mandatory price reduction is implemented.
“The question you have to ask is whether it [the policy] simply cuts out a piece of ‘fat’ from the telecoms companies or actually cuts to the bone.” Lin said. “I don’t think it cuts to the bone yet.”
Lin, however, said the reaction of the carriers was understandable and suggested that the NCC communicate its policy more calmly and rationally. The carriers should know by now that voice communications services are no longer profitable, he said, adding that they should seek to generate traffic by creating value-added services, such as electronic books.
Lin Tsung-nan (林宗男), professor of the electrical engineering department at National Taiwan University, said the policy simply made rates more reasonable.
“They [the telecoms carriers] claim they need to charge more for 3G services because customers can use it to watch videos and enjoy other innovative services,” Lin Tsung-nan said. “In the past five years, a majority of their revenues still came from voice communications. They did not introduce any exciting new services.”
He also said regulating wholesale termination rates was the right direction to go.
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