Chunghwa Telecom Co (CHT, 中華電信) yesterday said that it expects its number of 5G subscribers to reach 1 million within a year of the new wireless technology’s commercial launch, adding that the uptake of 5G would be similar to that of 4G.
The company accumulated 1.33 million 4G subscribers in the 12 months after it rolled out its 4G services in June 2014.
Chunghwa is expected to launch its 5G services on July 1.
Photo: CNA
Yesterday, it demonstrated a 5G bus equipped with advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) in Taipei.
People touring Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) can use the bus free of charge for the next three weeks, the company said.
“We expect the company’s 5G growth curve will not be different from that of its 4G [subscriptions],” Chunghwa Telecom executive vice president Lin Kuo-feng (林國豐) told reporters on the sidelines of a news conference to introduce the bus, which has 5G connectivity.
South Korea, which in April last year became the first nation to offer 5G services, could provide a reference for Taiwan in terms of its 5G adoption rate, said Max Chen (陳則仕), president of Chunghwa Telecom’s mobile business.
As of April, South Korea had seen its 5G penetration rate reach more than 9 percent, Chen said.
However, the COVID-19 outbreak and other factors, such as 5G tariffs, might affect the uptake of 5G services in Taiwan, he said.
Chunghwa Telecom has sold between 10,000 and 20,000 5G phones so far, and the adoption of 5G phones would grow explosively when retail prices drop to about NT$10,000 (US$337) in the second half of next year, he said.
The company plans to offer five 5G-enabled smartphones from Samsung Electronics Co, LG Electronics Co and Sony Corp, Chen said, adding that HTC Corp (宏達電) might join the list later.
The company plans to spend more than NT$27 billion deploying wireless networks in the next three years, he said.
That compares with Taiwan Mobile Co’s (台灣大哥大) plan to spend NT$13.47 billion on mobile broadband equipment over the next three years.
Chunghwa last week became the nation’s first telecom to obtain a 5G commercial license from the National Communications Commission.
Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) obtained its 5G license yesterday.
Far EasTone, which plans to roll out its 5G services this summer, has forecast that 15 percent of its subscribers would switch to 5G within 12 months of the service’s launch.
According to the Regulations for Administration of Mobile Broadband Businesses (行動寬頻業務管理規則), a telecom must launch its 5G service within six months of receiving the license.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”