Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), the nation’s largest telecom operator, aims to more than double its 4G subscriber numbers to 3.2 million this year, as its high-speed data-oriented service enters its second year, a company executive said yesterday.
As of December, Chunghwa Telecom, which spearheaded the launch of 4G services in May last year, had 1.33 million users. That accounted for 38.6 percent of the market, making it the biggest 4G service provider.
“We aim to grab a 40 percent share [of Taiwan’s 4G] subscribers this year,” company president Shih Mu-piao (石木標) told an investors’ teleconference.
Chunghwa Telecom will continue to expand its 4G subscriber base to achieve economies of scale and does not plan to scrap its flat rate policy before it reaches that goal, Shih told investors.
However, the company “will remove [its] unlimited data plan at an appropriate time. We cannot decide [when] so far,” he said.
Telecom companies and industry analysts considered flat-rate plans a key strategy to stimulate the nation’s 4G uptake last year, but such rate plans also eat into the profits of operators.
The nation’s total number of 4G subscribers reached 3.5 million last year, outpacing International Data Corp’s forecast of 3.3 million after its second revision from the 1 million projected in July.
This year, the figure is expected to surge to more than 10 million, IDC said in December.
Shih said the company would focus on growing its revenue, with its bigger 4G client base helping to lift its average revenue per user, it said.
Chunghwa Telecom also aims to boost its 4G network’s population coverage to 99 percent by the end of this year, the company said.
As the company is nearing completion of its 4G network deployment, Chunghwa Telecom expects capital spending to fall further next year after dropping to an estimated NT$30.7 billion this year from last year’s NT$38.82 billion, chief financial officer Chen Bo-yung (陳伯鏞) said.
Chunghwa Telecom yesterday said that its net income contracted 12.6 percent to NT$8.07 billion last quarter, from NT$9.23 billion a year ago. That brought last year’s overall net income to NT$38.62 billion, down 2.7 percent from NT$39.72 billion in 2013.
The company expects net income to go down further by 2.9 percent to NT$37.5 billion, it said on Friday.
NEW MARKET: The partnership opens up India to the Dutch company, which already has a strong hold in the semiconductor market of South Korea, Taiwan and China ASML Holding NV entered into a partnership agreement with Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd aimed at ramping up India’s goal to develop domestic chip-manufacturing capabilities. The Dutch company’s technology would help power Tata Electronics’ planned 300 millimeter (mm) semiconductor foundry in Gujarat, according to a joint statement from the two companies on Saturday. The signing of a memorandum of understanding coincides with a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Netherlands, which is looking to deepen bilateral relations with New Delhi. ASML, whose top customers include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co, makes lithography machines that can print
PORTFOLIO REBALANCING: The adjustments in three global equity indices reflect rising investor appetite for semiconductor and artificial intelligence-related stocks Taiwan’s weighting in major global equity indices compiled by MSCI Inc is to rise modestly following the latest quarterly review, underscoring the market’s expanding role in emerging-market portfolios, as global investors continue to favor the nation’s technology sector. Taiwan’s weighting in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index is to increase by 0.30 percentage points to 23.76 percent, after the changes take effect at the close of the May 29 session. Its weighting in the MSCI All-Country Asia ex-Japan Index is to rise 0.37 percentage points to 27.16 percent, while that in the MSCI All Country World Index is to edge up slightly to
The Hsinchu County Government’s Labor Affairs Department yesterday said that it has received a plan from cosmetics brand Taiwan Shiseido Co (台灣資生堂) detailing mass layoffs at its plant in Hukou Township (湖口). While the labor authorities did not disclose the number of employees to be laid off, Japanese news media earlier in the day reported that the closure of the company’s factory in Hukou would result in 170 employees losing their jobs. Shiseido followed the law by reporting its layoff plan, the department said, adding that authorities would closely monitor negotiations between the management and affected employees and step in if any
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Tuesday confirmed a cyberattack targeting some of its North American facilities, but said the affected factories were gradually returning to normal. The company, known globally as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said that its cybersecurity team “activated the response mechanism and implemented operational measures to ensure the continuity of production and delivery.” “The affected factories are resuming normal production,” the company said in a statement. Hon Hai had previously described it as a “technical issue,” when news of the cyberattack first surfaced. The confirmation followed media reports of a large-scale information technology system incident that broke out at
RSS