Chunghwa Telecom said it is likely to continue offering unlimited mobile Internet to customers for a flat rate when it launches its 4G communication service using long-term evolution (LTE) technology.
The nation’s largest telecom said it will also enforce a “fair usage policy” to ensure that the quality of service is not compromised.
“The biggest challenge facing telecom carriers worldwide is the dramatic, continual increase in the quality of audio and visual content delivered through the Internet, what is termed as over-the-top content,” company president Shih Mu-piao (石木標) said on Friday.
“The rising popularity of instant messaging applications like LINE has slashed the revenue telecoms earn from text messaging by an average of 20 to 30 percent. Given this, it would be unsustainable to apply the business model for our 3G services it in the 4G era,” Shih said.
“However, I think it is still viable to offer customers all-you-can-eat mobile Internet at a flat rate. This service is not likely to be canceled in the 4G era, although we may have to lower the transmission speed when a user’s data transmission volume exceeds a certain amount. If this is the case, customers would be notified via text message when they are about to exceed the limit,” the Chunghwa Telecom president added.
Shih made the comments at a forum on 4G services hosted by Taoyuan-based Yuan Ze University and attended by telecom experts, government officials and the six carriers that bought the 4G service spectra in last year’s auction.
The government earned a total of NT$118.65 billion (US$3.9 billion) through the auction, about twice what it made from the sale of 3G licenses. Many observers have voiced concerns that the high prices the carriers paid to obtain the spectra would result in consumers paying more for services once the 4G transition is complete.
Shih declined to discuss what services Chunghwa Telecom plans to offer, saying the information was confidential at this point, and urged the government to let the market decide what constitutes reasonable service rates and avoid excessive intervention.
He also urged the government to make more spectra available to help develop the nation’s 4G network, citing the 2.6 Gigahertz (GHz) radio bandwidth as particularly key to the furthering of such services.
According to the National Communications Commission, the 2.6GHz radio bandwidth is mainly used by Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) service providers. The rest of the bandwidth is either idle or used by the experimental networks.
While the International Telecommunication Union recognizes LTE and WiMAX as technologies for 4G service development, the prevalence of WiMAX in Taiwan has waned since Intel Corp withdrew its investment from the service in 2010.
The nation’s six WiMAX service operators acquired their licenses in 2007, but have attracted just 120,550 subscribers as of January this year. This has led to proposals that the government facilitate the merger of the six operators so the 2.6GHz bandwidth can be used more efficiently.
Meanwhile, Taiwan Mobile Broadband assistant manager Yang Chu-huang (張据煌) said the government should strive to settle disputes among providers over Internet protocol peering charges, which will persist after 4G services are launched if they remain unresolved.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS