The number of people using the Internet in Taiwan jumped to 7.82 million people, or 35 percent of the population, by the end of last year -- mostly because of increased high-speed asymmetrical digital subscriber line (ADSL) and cable modem connections, the Ministry of Economic Affairs' Industrial Technology Department said yesterday.
Out of the 1.55 million new Internet subscribers in Taiwan last year, 900,000 opted for high-speed broadband services like ADSL modem systems, which allow speedier downloading of data from the Net using traditional phone lines, and cable modems which utilize cable TV wires.
Over 1.13 million people in Taiwan now surf the Net using the faster connections, which run at speeds up to 512k. Traditional modems on phone lines run at peak speeds of 56k.
"Aside from high speed broadband services like ADSL and cable modems, other forms of Internet access like dial-up services showed very slow growth or even declined," said Pan Ming-chuen (
Demand for new ADSL lines spiked so fast last year that in March, state-run Chunghwa Telecom Co (
The company has placed another order for an additional 1.15 million ADSL modem lines to be bid on next month.
The top five broadband Internet service providers, in order, are Chunghwa Telecom-owned HiNet, Digital United Inc's (數位聯合) Seednet, Taiwan Fixed Network Co (台灣固網), Asia Pacific Online (亞太線上) and GigaMedia Ltd (和信超媒體), the Industrial Technology Department said.
Of these companies, the first three provide ADSL subscriber line services, while the fourth and fifth place firms are cable- modem service providers. ADSL users in Taiwan outnumber cable modem users by a large margin -- 920,000 to 210,000 -- according to the Industrial Technology Department. Last year, 800,000 new broadband users hooked up to ADSL, while only 100,000 new users logged on with cable modems.
According to a survey released earlier this month by the Consumers' Foundation, a large percentage of ADSL users were unhappy about high monthly fees and poor service, a potential stumbling block for the development of the high-speed internet business in Taiwan.
A senior official from the Directorate General of Telecommunication told the Taipei Times that the situation would persist because of Chunghwa Telecom's monopoly of Taiwan's phone network.
One company is trying to get around the Chunghwa monopoly by installing its own lines.
"Other companies all have to use Chunghwa Telecom lines for their ADSL. We take our own lines straight into users homes ... bypassing Chunghwa's fees," said an official at Taiwan Fixed Network. As the firm adds new users and reaches an economy of scale, it hopes to offer lower prices.
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