Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), the nation’s biggest telecom operator, plans to build 1,200 new 3.5-generation (3.5G) base stations this year to expand bandwidth and boost data transmission speed, a company executive said yesterday.
That would bring its total number of 3.5G base stations to approximately 7,200 at the end of this year to cope with growing capacity demand from iPhone and data card users, Shih Mu-piao (石木標) told reporters.
“That will help us avoid the capacity problem faced by AT&T,” Shih said.
AT&T subscribers have been complaining about slow speed and insufficient capacity because of the faster-than-expected growth in the number of iPhone users, which are heavy data users.
This year, Chunghwa Telecom plans to spend NT$5.4 billion (US$168 million) to upgrade its mobile network, up 3.8 percent from last year, Shih said, joining rival Far EasTone Telecommunications Co’s (遠傳電信) latest move in boosting network deployment spending.
The company expects mobile revenues to be flat this year as a result of the National Communication Commission’s proposal to cut voice tariffs by 5.87 percent per annum over a three-year period. Revenues last year reached NT$74.1 billion.
To minimize price erosion, Chunghwa Telecom will work on boosting non-voice, or data, service usage by offering more smartphones, Shih said.
The company aims to double smartphone purchases to around 500,000 units this year in anticipation of rising replacement demand from subscribers.
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