Today is the final day for companies to submit applications to bid on 3G-mobile licenses in Taiwan, and at least five groups are set to enter the process, according to analysts.
No time limit has been set on bidding. It could last through February and possibly longer, according to one official.
"It depends on the bidding process," said Wu Bian-sheng, an official at the Directorate General of Communications under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.
He said bidding could extend through multiple rounds based on interest among companies in Taiwan.
The five 3G licenses are expected to be auctioned off for a minimum of NT$33.6 billion (US$975 million) and were priced earlier this year based on the amount of bandwidth available for each, at NT$7.6 billion, NT$4.2 billion, NT$7.6 billion, NT$6.7 billion and NT$7.5 billion.
"At least five companies [will bid for licenses], but from what I've heard maybe six," said Alex Wu (
He said some companies might combine efforts at the last minute in order to avoid a bidding frenzy.
Main contenders
So far, the nation's four top mobile service firms, Taiwan Cellular Corp, Chunghwa Telecommunica-tions Co (中華電信), Far EasTone Telecom Co, Ltd and KG Telecommunica-tions Ltd (和信電訊) are certain to bid, according to analysts.
Vivien Wong, director-general of the planning department at the Directorate General of Telecommunications, said successful 3G license applicants will have to pay 30 percent of the total license fee within one year and the balance over 10 years.
The license fees are estimated to be equivalent to 3 percent of 3G sales in Taiwan over a license period of 15 years, according to a submission by Nomura Securities Co to the Taiwan government about projected revenue to the industry, Wong said.
Internet-like services across the airwaves, which is the essence of 3G mobile services, are expected to revolutionize the way people work and play by allowing wireless access to information from mobile phones, notebook computers, PDAs and other devices. They are expected to be launched in the next 3 to 5 years.
Telecom firms in Taiwan expect the soon-to-be-launched precursor to 3G, called GPRS, to bring in high revenues over the next few years. The nation's nearly 21 million active mobile phone accounts -- there are only 23 million people in Taiwan -- are seen as a good indication people here will flock to wireless services.
"The clear majority of our revenue growth will come from data services and enterprise solutions," said Joseph O'Konek, president of Far Eastone (遠傳) in an interview with the Taipei Times last week.
His firm introduced mobile data services earlier this year, in the form of its simple message system (SMS), which allows people to send messages via their mobile phones and electronic coupons.
In the first seven weeks of the SMS service, the company completed four million transactions and the numbers have grown as consumers learn how to use the service. Despite this success, only 18,127 people in Taiwan have so far signed up for high-end mobile data services, according to the Directorate General for Telecommunications.
Most Taiwanese firms hope people in Taiwan take to future services in the same manner as the Japanese. NTT DoCoMo's i-mode service has become synonymous with wireless Internet success, as the company has grown its subscriber base to 29.5 million people.
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