The nation’s leading telecom carrier Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) yesterday cut handset prices by up to NT$6,000 per unit and offered a new flat rate for 4G subscribers as competition among carriers intensifies.
The move came after Taiwan Star Telecom Corp (台灣之星) on Monday announced a budget 4G plan of NT$599 per month for unlimited use of its long-term-evolution (LTE) network and free voice calls for two years. Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大), the nation’s second-largest telecom carrier, yesterday also introduced flat-rate plans and free voice calls for 4G users.
The president of Chunghwa Telecom’s mobile business group, Lin Kuo-feng (林國豐), said that expanding the number of its 4G subscribers was crucial for the company to eke out a profit, given the cut-throat competition in the market and the firm’s huge investment in infrastructure.
Chunghwa Telecom plans to get a 40 percent share of the 4G market by the end of this year. The company has attracted 200,000 subscribers to its 4G service since its launch on May 29, he said.
According to Chunghwa Telecom’s new rate plans, local consumers can get a free HTC Corp (宏達電) One M8 smartphone if they subscribe to the company’s 4G service and pay a minimum of NT$1,336 per month.
Last month, consumers signing up to the same 4G package needed to pay NT$5,990 a month to get the free smartphone.
The company said new subscribers for the 4G LTE service package who pay between NT$1,336 and NT$2,636 a month would have access to unlimited use of its ultra-high-speed 4G network and would able to make free calls to other Chunghwa Telecom users.
Those signing up for service packages with monthly payments of less than NT$1,336 a month would have an unlimited Internet connection for only six months, the company said.
Meanwhile, Taiwan Mobile said consumers who subscribe to its 4G service and pay between NT$1,399 and NT$2,599 a month would have unlimited Internet access and free voice calls for 2 years, or 30 months based on their contracts.
The company yesterday also launched 4G prepaid cards to make voice calls and prepaid 4G data cards. There are about 1 million prepaid card users in the nation.
Taiwan Star yesterday said more than 3,000 people signed up to its 4G services at the launch on Monday.
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