Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) yesterday said that given heavy 5G spectrum costs, it would take longer than expected to see a positive contribution from 5G services on its balance sheet.
Far EasTone originally forecast that 5G services would make a positive contribution one to two years after launch, which is scheduled for the third quarter, Far EasTone president Chee Ching (井琪) said.
Ching said she now expects it to take longer than two years.
Photo: Yang Ya-min, Taipei Times
The telecom secured 80 megahertz (MHz) in the 3.5 gigahertz (GHz) band of the 5G spectrum and 400MHz in the 28GHz band at a combined cost of NT$43.04 billion (US$1.42 billion).
The nation’s four telecom operators spent a total of NT$142.19 billion on the 5G spectrum — the third-highest in the world, National Communications Commission data showed.
Far EasTone expects 5G services to boost the company’s average revenue per user mildly this year, Ching said, adding that the effect would magnify next year.
Based on the initial construction plan it submitted to the commission for review, Far EasTone plans to build 6,000 5G base stations in the next five years.
That would cost about NT$18 billion, the company said.
“This is a very conservative [estimate],” Ching said. “We will be more aggressive than that.”
Far EasTone plans to install more than 6,000 5G base stations to have wider coverage and quality Internet access, she said. The company has installed more than 10,000 4G base stations since the commercial launch in 2014, she added.
With better consumer readiness, Far EasTone expects about 20 to 25 percent of local 4G users to upgrade to 5G in the 12 months following the launch, faster than the 12 to 15 percent reported in South Korea, Far EasTone vice president T.Y. Yin (尹德洋) said.
South Korea launched 5G services in April last year, he added.
Aside from new 5G applications, smartphone replacement demand would stimulate the 5G adoption rate as well, Yin said.
Most mobile users who subscribed to the NT$499 monthly flat rate in 2018 are to renew their contracts in November, he said, adding that they are also likely to buy new phones as the old rate plans were not bundled with a subsidized handset.
In Italy’s storied gold-making hubs, jewelers are reworking their designs to trim gold content as they race to blunt the effect of record prices and appeal to shoppers watching their budgets. Gold prices hit a record high on Thursday, surging near US$5,600 an ounce, more than double a year ago as geopolitical concerns and jitters over trade pushed investors toward the safe-haven asset. The rally is putting undue pressure on small artisans as they face mounting demands from customers, including international brands, to produce cheaper items, from signature pieces to wedding rings, according to interviews with four independent jewelers in Italy’s main
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has talked up the benefits of a weaker yen in a campaign speech, adopting a tone at odds with her finance ministry, which has refused to rule out any options to counter excessive foreign exchange volatility. Takaichi later softened her stance, saying she did not have a preference for the yen’s direction. “People say the weak yen is bad right now, but for export industries, it’s a major opportunity,” Takaichi said on Saturday at a rally for Liberal Democratic Party candidate Daishiro Yamagiwa in Kanagawa Prefecture ahead of a snap election on Sunday. “Whether it’s selling food or
CONCERNS: Tech companies investing in AI businesses that purchase their products have raised questions among investors that they are artificially propping up demand Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday said that the company would be participating in OpenAI’s latest funding round, describing it as potentially “the largest investment we’ve ever made.” “We will invest a great deal of money,” Huang told reporters while visiting Taipei. “I believe in OpenAI. The work that they do is incredible. They’re one of the most consequential companies of our time.” Huang did not say exactly how much Nvidia might contribute, but described the investment as “huge.” “Let Sam announce how much he’s going to raise — it’s for him to decide,” Huang said, referring to OpenAI
The global server market is expected to grow 12.8 percent annually this year, with artificial intelligence (AI) servers projected to account for 16.5 percent, driven by continued investment in AI infrastructure by major cloud service providers (CSPs), market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. Global AI server shipments this year are expected to increase 28 percent year-on-year to more than 2.7 million units, driven by sustained demand from CSPs and government sovereign cloud projects, TrendForce analyst Frank Kung (龔明德) told the Taipei Times. Demand for GPU-based AI servers, including Nvidia Corp’s GB and Vera Rubin rack systems, is expected to remain high,
RSS