Less than six months after the launch of 5G services, the number of users in Taiwan has surpassed 1 million, statistics released by the nation’s telecoms showed.
Taiwan in June issued its first 5G license to Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), and the company started its services in July.
Four other telecoms — Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信), Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大), Taiwan Star Telecom Corp (台灣之星) and Asia Pacific Telecom Co (亞太電信) — soon followed suit to start 5G services in the summer.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
Chunghwa Telecom said that its number of 5G subscribers has topped 300,000 and would likely rise to 500,000 by the end of this year.
Subscriptions to 5G services have exceeded the firm’s expectations, as it has previously aimed to sign up 300,000 users by the end of the year, the company said.
Chunghwa Telecom would invest more than NT$10 billion (US$351.62 million) next year to improve its mobile communication infrastructure, Chunghwa Telecom chairman Sheih Chi-mau (謝繼茂) said.
So far, Chunghwa Telecom has built more than 4,000 5G base stations, Sheih said.
Far EasTone has signed up about 300,000 5G subscribers since the launch of its services in July, topping the company’s expectations, the company said.
Far EasTone president Chee Ching (井琪) said that the company is determined to strengthen its 5G infrastructure to gain a greater market share.
Taiwan Mobile has also signed up about 300,000 5G users, exceeding its expectations of the number of people who quickly adopted the new technology, the company said.
Taiwan Mobile expects that 5G users would account for 15 to 20 percent of its total subscribers by the end of next year, Taiwan Mobile president Jamie Lin (林之晨) said.
Taiwan Star Telecom and Asia Pacific Telecom each signed up more than 100,000 5G subscribers, statistics released by the respective companies showed.
WEAKER ACTIVITY: The sharpest deterioration was seen in the electronics and optical components sector, with the production index falling 13.2 points to 44.5 Taiwan’s manufacturing sector last month contracted for a second consecutive month, with the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) slipping to 48, reflecting ongoing caution over trade uncertainties, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The decline reflects growing caution among companies amid uncertainty surrounding US tariffs, semiconductor duties and automotive import levies, and it is also likely linked to fading front-loading activity, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said. “Some clients have started shifting orders to Southeast Asian countries where tariff regimes are already clear,” Lien told a news conference. Firms across the supply chain are also lowering stock levels to mitigate
IN THE AIR: While most companies said they were committed to North American operations, some added that production and costs would depend on the outcome of a US trade probe Leading local contract electronics makers Wistron Corp (緯創), Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), Inventec Corp (英業達) and Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) are to maintain their North American expansion plans, despite Washington’s 20 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods. Wistron said it has long maintained a presence in the US, while distributing production across Taiwan, North America, Southeast Asia and Europe. The company is in talks with customers to align capacity with their site preferences, a company official told the Taipei Times by telephone on Friday. The company is still in talks with clients over who would bear the tariff costs, with the outcome pending further
Six Taiwanese companies, including contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), made the 2025 Fortune Global 500 list of the world’s largest firms by revenue. In a report published by New York-based Fortune magazine on Tuesday, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), ranked highest among Taiwanese firms, placing 28th with revenue of US$213.69 billion. Up 60 spots from last year, TSMC rose to No. 126 with US$90.16 billion in revenue, followed by Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) at 348th, Pegatron Corp (和碩) at 461st, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) at 494th and Wistron Corp (緯創) at
NEGOTIATIONS: Semiconductors play an outsized role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development and are a major driver of the Taiwan-US trade imbalance With US President Donald Trump threatening to impose tariffs on semiconductors, Taiwan is expected to face a significant challenge, as information and communications technology (ICT) products account for more than 70 percent of its exports to the US, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said on Friday. Compared with other countries, semiconductors play a disproportionately large role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development, Lien said. As the sixth-largest contributor to the US trade deficit, Taiwan recorded a US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US last year — up from US$47.8 billion in 2023 — driven by strong
RSS