Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), Taiwan’s largest telecom operator, announced new content to be carried by its digital television service on Thursday in a bid to continue boosting its number of subscribers.
The multimedia-on-demand (MOD) service had 1.24 million subscribers as of the end of last year, a figure that is expected to hit 1.4 million by the end of this year, Chunghwa Telecom chairman Lee Yen-sung (李炎松) said.
Lee also forecast that MOD’s daily operating rate would reach 68 percent this year, a steady increase from 47 percent in 2012 and 58 percent last year, thanks to a wider offering of digital TV programs.
“We have had a focus on sports, but now we are shifting the focus to serving more consumers in different market segments,” he said at a press conference announcing a partnership with Dapili International Marketing Co (大霹靂), the producer of the well-known Pili Taiwanese traditional puppet theater series.
In addition to local cultural and creative industry offerings, Chunghwa Telecom will provide more content on foreign language-learning and drama, Lee added.
With high-definition sports broadcasting and films, the MOD service has a total of 160 TV channels, including 88 featuring high-definition TV programs, Chunghwa Telecom said.
Wu Ming-teh (吳明德), vice president of Chunghwa Telecom’s northern Taiwan business group, said the monthly average revenue per user for the MOD service is expected to grow to NT$170 (US$5.68) this year from NT$140 last year, which remains below a profitable level of NT$200.
The MOD service created an output value of over NT$4 billion for the local digital TV industry last year, and the number is projected to grow to NT$5 billion this year, he said.
Moreover, about 36,000 televisions were sold last year through cooperation between the MOD service and various TV brands, Wu said, adding that the company aims to double TV sales to 72,000 units this year.
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