Eastern Broadband Telecom Ltd (
Last month, Eastern Broadband and the two other newcomers to Taiwan's fixed line market, Sparq (also known as New Century InfoComm Co,
Eastern Broadband's new rates make calls to China 24 percent lower than Chunghwa's best price, while calls to the rest of Asia, including Hong Kong, will match those of the state-run giant. Calls to the US and Canada on Eastern Broadband lines will only be 3.4 percent lower.
Chunghwa last week announced rate reductions of 18 percent on local long distance calls and 37 percent worldwide, including a 57 percent price decrease on calls to China and 54 percent on calls to Hong Kong, Canada and the US. The new rates took effect on the first of this month.
To find the best long distance calling plan, industry watchers warned consumers not to be fooled by clever advertising and to read the fine print before signing a new long distance agreement.
Each of the new telecom firms plans to slash local long distance and international calling rates in a bid to capture market share this year. While the reduced rates will benefit consumers across the board, people need to look at which company offers them the best deal.
The most popular overseas calling destinations for Taiwanese businesses and consumers are China, Hong Kong, the US and Canada. The complex long distance calling plans cooked up by the nation's four telecom firms offer different rate reductions for each nation, and consumers will find the best deal by determining which country they call most and match that to the company offering the lowest price for that destination.
Sparq and Taiwan Fixed Line Network are still working to win approval on their long distance rate reduction plans as well, and both expect to be up and running by the middle of April. Last week, the two firms pledged to undercut Chunghwa by 3 percent to 10 percent on long distance calls to specific regions.
Before launching their services, the two companies have to complete testing of their new system and gain the approval of the Directorate General of Telecommunications (DGT,
To sign up for local and international long distance from one of the new companies, consumers must first fill out a billing agreement. Contact information for each of the three new firms is plastered on advertisements throughout Taiwan, and in Taipei, agents have set up stands at the Nova Plaza computer shopping center near the Taipei Train Station (
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