The low-tier mobile phone (LTMP) service is expected to attract two million users in Taiwan over the next three years, according to the two companies that won the license to operate the service.
On Monday, the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MOTC) awarded LTMP communications licenses to the only companies that applied for them, First International Telecom Corp (?j231q信) and Taiwan Paging Network (聯華1q信), two local paging service providers.
The LTMP is an intermediate phone product, with slightly less capability than normal cell phones such as the CT-2, and is designed to occupy a market niche between cellular and cordless telephones.
LTPMs only operate when users are moving at a speed of less than 100 kph, a faster speed than the 8 kph limit for cordless phones, but slower than the more than 200 kph limit on cellular phones.
Although many telecom industry analysts have expressed skepticism about the prospects of LTMP service due to the current domination of the wireless telecommunications field by cellular phones, the two companies believe it has strong market potential.
Taiwan Mobile Corp, the company formed by Taiwan Paging Network for the LTMP business, said that with cheaper handsets and airtime charges than cellphones, the LTMP has a market niche.
The airtime fee for LTMP services provided by Taiwan Mobile, for example, is between NT$2 to NT$3 per minute, cheaper than the average NT$6 per minute charge for cellphone services. The LTMP handset is priced at between NT$2,000 to NT$3,000.
"We believe that the service will appeal to students and house-wives," said an official from Taiwan Mobile Corp. "More importantly, not all telecom services died after the cellphone hit the market. Paging and fixed line phone services, for example, still survive."
First International Telecom, which plans to use the Japanese PHS (personal access communications system), also pointed out that Japan now has 5.75 million LTMP users, accounting for 10 percent of total mobile phone users in the country.
Taiwan Mobile has an initial capital amount of NT$3 billion (about US$944 million), and its total capital investment in LTMP services will come to NT$6 billion. It plans to launch the service around June next year.
The company has decided to adopt the American PACS (personal access communications system) and plans to launch services first in the greater Taipei area and then gradually expand into the metropolitan areas in Taichung and Kaohsiung.
By initially concentrating on its 850,000 paging service subscribers as potential LTMP customers, the company anticipates its number of subscribers could reach 200,000 in its first year of operation.
That figure could grow to 800,000 by its third year of operation, when the total number of users in the market should reach around two million.
American Hughes and Bell Laboratory have provided Taiwan Mobile with technical support, and Acer Group has been contracted to manufacture the handsets.
Besides the Taiwan market, Taiwan Mobile Corp is also eyeing the LTMP market in China, where, according to its assessments, there will be at least 50 million LTMP users in the near future. The business opportunity there is expected to exceed NT$150 billion.
Meanwhile, First International Telecom said it will invest NT$5 billion in infrastructure construction, with the aim of launching the service in the second half of next year in the greater Taipei City area.
The handset will be temporarily priced at around US$100, or NT$3,200. The airtime charge will be NT$1 per minute for calls made between LTMP users, and NT$2 per minute for calls placed between LTMP and non-LTMP users.
Like Taiwan Mobile Corp, First International Telecom will also base its potential LTMP customers on its current paging service subscribers. However, the company would not comment on its sales projections.
Under the government's plan, of the three LTMP licenses to be issued, one would be reserved for current CT2 service providers. The capitalization requirement for a license is set at NT$3 billion, with a guarantee bond of NT$150 million. No restriction has been imposed on technology standards, so European DECT, American PACS, or Japanese PHS standards will all be accepted.
Anna Bhobho, a 31-year-old housewife from rural Zimbabwe, was once a silent observer in her home, excluded from financial and family decisionmaking in the deeply patriarchal society. Today, she is a driver of change in her village, thanks to an electric tricycle she owns. In many parts of rural sub-Saharan Africa, women have long been excluded from mainstream economic activities such as operating public transportation. However, three-wheelers powered by green energy are reversing that trend, offering financial opportunities and a newfound sense of importance. “My husband now looks up to me to take care of a large chunk of expenses,
SECTOR LEADER: TSMC can increase capacity by as much as 20 percent or more in the advanced node part of the foundry market by 2030, an analyst said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to lead its peers in the advanced 2-nanometer process technology, despite competition from Samsung Electronics Co and Intel Corp, TrendForce Corp analyst Joanne Chiao (喬安) said. TSMC’s sophisticated products and its large production scale are expected to allow the company to continue dominating the global 2-nanometer process market this year, Chiao said. The world’s largest contract chipmaker is scheduled to begin mass production of chips made on the 2-nanometer process in its Hsinchu fab in the second half of this year. It would also hold a ceremony on Monday next week to
TECH CLUSTER: The US company’s new office is in the Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City, a new AI industry base and cybersecurity hub in southern Taiwan US chip designer Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) yesterday launched an office in Tainan’s Gueiren District (歸仁), marking a significant milestone in the development of southern Taiwan’s artificial intelligence (AI) industry, the Tainan City Government said in a statement. AMD Taiwan general manager Vincent Chern (陳民皓) presided over the opening ceremony for the company’s new office at the Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City (沙崙智慧綠能科學城), a new AI industry base and cybersecurity hub in southern Taiwan. Facilities in the new office include an information processing center, and a research and development (R&D) center, the Tainan Economic Development Bureau said. The Ministry
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday signed a letter of intent with Alaska Gasline Development Corp (AGDC), expressing an interest to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) and invest in the latter’s Alaska LNG project, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. Under the agreement, CPC is to participate in the project’s upstream gas investment to secure stable energy resources for Taiwan, the ministry said. The Alaska LNG project is jointly promoted by AGDC and major developer Glenfarne Group LLC, as Alaska plans to export up to 20 million tonnes of LNG annually from 2031. It involves constructing an 1,290km
RSS