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.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
RSS