Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) yesterday said it aims to complete its acquisition of Taiwan Star Telecom Corp (台灣之星) by the end of this year, after the Fair Trade Commission gave a conditional go-ahead to the deal.
The transaction would boost the subscriber base of the new entity to nearly 10 million users along with elevated bandwidth and frequency, Taiwan Mobile said in a statement.
Taiwan Mobile’s board of directors in August approved a proposal to raise its capital spending this year to NT$15.65 billion (US$487.16 million) to fund the integration of base stations managed by the two firms.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Taiwan Mobile currently operates 13,000 base stations, while Taiwan Star owns 9,000 units, the companies’ data showed.
“With the regulatory approval, Taiwan’s telecom industry is ushering in a new era,” Taiwan Mobile said. “The new Taiwan Mobile will offer services with greatly elevated bandwidth and frequency for subscribers.”
In July, Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) obtained an approval from the commission to absorb smaller peer Asia Pacific Telecom Co (亞太電信) in a deal valued at about NT$24.7 billion.
The number of telecom operators in Taiwan would be reduced to three from five following the latest industry consolidation.
“The telecom industry is both technology and capital-intensive. Telecom operators will be able to enhance their operational efficiency and competitiveness through mergers,” the commission said in a statement yesterday.
To maintain market competition and ease concern about market concentration, the commission demanded that Taiwan Mobile safeguard the interests of subscribers and ensure the service quality.
Taiwan Mobile must comprehensively accept terms of Taiwan Star’s existing contracts and ensure Taiwan Star’s subscribers to continue services until Dec. 31, 2025, the commission said.
In addition, Taiwan Star’s 4G subscribers are to continue their contracts until the expiration of the company’s 4G bandwidth license, it said.
Meanwhile, service subscribers who are mentally or physically challenged, from low-income households or 65 years or older can subscribe to preferential tariff plans for at least five years, the commission said. General subscribers can access preferential tariff plans for at least one year, it said.
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump weighed in on a pressing national issue: The rebranding of a restaurant chain. Last week, Cracker Barrel, a Tennessee company whose nationwide locations lean heavily on a cozy, old-timey aesthetic — “rocking chairs on the porch, a warm fire in the hearth, peg games on the table” — announced it was updating its logo. Uncle Herschel, the man who once appeared next to the letters with a barrel, was gone. It sparked ire on the right, with Donald Trump Jr leading a charge against the rebranding: “WTF is wrong with Cracker Barrel?!” Later, Trump Sr weighed
SinoPac Financial Holdings Co (永豐金控) is weighing whether to add a life insurance business to its portfolio, but would tread cautiously after completing three acquisitions in quick succession, president Stanley Chu (朱士廷) said yesterday. “We are carefully considering whether life insurance should play a role in SinoPac’s business map,” Chu told reporters ahead of an earnings conference. “Our priority is to ensure the success of the deals we have already made, even though we are tracking some possible targets.” Local media have reported that Mercuries Life Insurance Co (三商美邦人壽), which is seeking buyers amid financial strains, has invited three financial
HEADWINDS: Upfront investment is unavoidable in the merger, but cost savings would materialize over time, TS Financial Holding Co president Welch Lin said TS Financial Holding Co (台新新光金控) said it would take about two years before the benefits of its merger with Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控) become evident, as the group prioritizes the consolidation of its major subsidiaries. “The group’s priority is to complete the consolidation of different subsidiaries,” Welch Lin (林維俊), president of the nation’s fourth-largest financial conglomerate by assets, told reporters during its first earnings briefing since the merger took effect on July 24. The asset management units are scheduled to merge in November, followed by life insurance in January next year and securities operations in April, Lin said. Banking integration,
Artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Cambricon Technologies Corp (寒武紀科技) plunged almost 9 percent after warning investors about a doubling in its share price over just a month, a record gain that helped fuel a US$1 trillion Chinese market rally. Cambricon triggered the selloff with a Thursday filing in which it dispelled talk about nonexistent products in the pipeline, reminded investors it labors under US sanctions, and stressed the difficulties of ascending the technology ladder. The Shanghai-listed company’s stock dived by the most since April in early yesterday trading, while the market stood largely unchanged. The litany of warnings underscores growing scrutiny of